33C THE FRESH- WATER FISHES OF EUROPE. 



pound in weight. We give this remarkable assertion not without a suspicion 

 that some other fish has been mistaken for the Smelt, for Mr. Lloyd saw no 

 specimens larger than those which are common in England. 



The fishing is generally carried on during the spawning-season in the night- 

 time, when large fires are kindled on the shores to attract the fishes out of the 

 deeper water, to within the sweep of the net. The net used is attached to an 

 iron ring six feet in diameter. 



There is no doubt that Smelts are capable of being naturalised in ponds. 

 Yarrell mentions that Colonel Meynell kept them successfully for four years in 

 a three-acre pond which had no communication with the sea ; and Sir T. Maryon 

 Wilson introduced Smelts from Rochester to a pond at Series, near Lewes, 

 where they bred and flourished. 



Professor Huxley has drawn attention to the remarkable condition of the 

 ovaries in the Smelt. They are divided into two, and are placed one behind 

 the other, so that the left ovary is in front, and the right ovary behind. 

 These ovaries have large oviducts which extend below the swim-bladder, one 

 long and the other short, on each side of the intestine. The common genital 

 outlet in which they terminate is situate between the vent and the urinary 

 aperture ; while the ovary agrees in structure with that of the Salmon tribe, the 

 oviducts constitute a singular difference. 



GENUS : CoregOnuS (AIITEDI). 



The genus Coregonus has the body covered with scales of moderate size, 

 which easily fall off. The cleft of the mouth is small. The maxillary bone 

 is broad and short, and does not extend behind the orbit. The teeth are ex- 

 tremely minute and deciduous, and when present in the adult fish are usually 

 limited to the tongue. The dorsal fin is higher than long, and the caudal is 

 deeply forked. The air-bladder is very large, undivided, and opens into the 

 throat by a short duct. 



The stomach is horse-shoe-shaped. There are about one hundred and fifty 

 pyloric appendages of nearly uniform length and thickness, attached to the 

 slender intestine, behind the portal region. The intestine is often completely 

 filled with Entomostraca. The eggs are small. 



Coregonus is found in the temperate and northern parts of Europe, Asia, 

 and North America, in fresh waters ; and many species periodically go down 

 to the sea. In North America it is abundant in the lakes and fresh waters, 

 and known everywhere as White Fish. At spawning-time several rows of 



