herrings. According to Pontoppidan, in his ac- 

 count of Norway, in the same bay, in one season, 

 nineteen 'millions of fish were taken. The her- 

 ring forms a principal part of the food of the Nor- 

 wegians, arid a large branch of their commerce. 

 Many hundred cargoes are annually sent from 

 Bergen alone ; and in 1752, between January 

 and October, this town dispatched from it one 

 hundred and thirty-two thousand, one hundred 

 and fifty-six tons. 



But these considerations are more adapted to 

 the political economist than to the natural his- 

 torian. Suffice it to say, that with all attempts 

 to improve the British fisheries, the immense 

 sums expended upon them, the protection afford- 

 ed to them by government bounties and other 

 means, the Dutch still maintain their superiority 

 over us. I think the cause of this failure is 

 easily to be explained, and quite agree with Dr. 

 Knox, that the superiority of Dutch herrings de- 

 pends altogether upon their food. This very 

 scientific naturalist discovered that, whilst feed- 

 ing on the incredibly minute entomostraceous 

 animals, which it more especially affects, the con- 

 dition of the herring is excellent, rendering it de- 

 sirable food for man. In this state the stomach 

 seems as if almost empty, although, in reality, it 

 is full of minute animals, to be discovered only 

 by the microscope. The intestines also seem as 

 if empty, and are as free from intestinal and pu- 

 trescent debris as if it actually fed on nothing but 

 air and water. Whilst thus fed, the herring is in 



