GREA T BRITAIN. 107 



bream, Pagellus, hooked by the tail or back. This is 

 swallowed head first, by which means the spines of the 

 bream are said to act like a hook. It will also take pieces 

 of mackerel, pilchard, or cuttle. 



Breeding. Very prolific, and minute young ones are 

 common. I found one full of matured ova in May, 1881 ; 

 they were very minute and numerous ; the young are 2 or 

 3 inches in length in August. 



In the middle of last century a sudden advance in the 

 price of these fish took place. Couch quoted a MS. note as 

 follows : " Dorys yt used to be sold for three to four pence 

 piece are now two shillings or half-a-crown a good one." 

 The same author remarks on upwards of sixty, one autumn, 



>eing hauled on shore in one ground-seine, the entire lot of 



rhich realized nine shillings. 



As food. It is considered by some to be in the best 

 condition for the table during the last four months of the 

 -, but others recommend it as being of superior excellence 

 from January to March, while fishmongers prefer such as 

 are taken from the Devonshire coast. It was much prized 

 by the Romans, who deemed it to be sacred to Neptune. 



[ohn Quin, the actor, who died at Bath in 1766, when 73 



rears of age, is commonly reported to have added this 

 delicacy to our tables, and some have even asserted that so 



>leased was he with it that it was commonly known as 

 JoJmsdory. Borlase, in Cornwall, 1755, remarked, "This 

 fish is of firm substance and much coveted, but rather dry 

 in comparison of the sole and turbot." Sir J. Banks placed 

 it among " the most valuable of fishes, as it required no 



luce." Some good judges of eating rank it next after the 



irbot. 

 Mode of cooking. They are somewhat improved by not 



>eing cooked for two or three days after their capture ; they 



