THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. I2 - 



are told that the roe of the female herring contains about 

 68,000 eggs. ' Great quantities are caught in Holland, but 

 the Scotch herring fisheries are the greatest in the world. 

 No account is kept of the number of herrings yielded by 

 the waters surrounding England, but from the most 

 recent returns it appears that there are 98,000 people 

 employed in the Scottish herring and other fisheries ; 

 that the number of herring-boats employed in 1861 was 

 12,961, representing a value of ^296,224 ; and that the 

 value of the nets used in the same period was ^415,057. 

 Of the extent of the pilchard fisheries you can form an 

 idea when you are told that 12,000,000 of these fish have 

 been sold for home use alone in one year, and that the 

 average produce of the Cornish pilchard fisheries is about 

 60,000,000 of fish. 



The principal centre of the herring fishery of England 

 is at Yarmouth, and of pilchards at Land's End. 



Sprats abound about the coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, 

 and Kent, in November, and some of the following months. 

 To the Soft-finned fishes belong also the Pike, the 

 Garfish, the Electric Silurus, the Trout, the Cod, 

 the Sole, the Flying-fish, &c. This fish does not really 

 fly, but, owing to the expansion of its pectoral fins, it is 

 enabled to leap above the surface of the water. Also the 

 Remora, which is remarkable for the possession of a 

 series of cartilaginous plates on the top of its head, by 

 which it can attach itself to rocks, ships, or to other 

 fishes, especially to the Shark. 



Cartilaginous Fishes. In Cartilaginous fishes the 

 skeleton is not so perfect as in Bony fishes, and is formed 

 of cartilage or gristly substance, instead of bone. The 

 skin is sometimes covered with small spikes, made of a 

 substance like that of which the teeth are made, and 

 sometimes they form large sharp-pointed knobs, spread 

 over the whole surface. 



