286 THE COMMERCIAL SEA FISHES OF 



off our east coast is from 10 to II inches, and if full 

 weighing from 4 to 6 ounces : a full one, I \\ inches long, 

 will weigh 8 ounces. Buckland stated that the largest 

 herrings submitted to him were from the Shetlands ; the 

 milt and roe were but slightly developed, they were very fat 

 and as long as 9^ inches and 9^ ounces weight. Sims, at 

 Aberdeen, weighed some full ones, 12\ inches long, and 

 they were only 8^- ounces ; the largest example he found 

 in 1880 was \2 inches, and weighed 9f ounces ; it was a 

 full one. 



2. The Pilchard (Clupea pilchardus}. 



A dried pilchard in Devonshire is sometimes termed a 

 fair maid, derived from fumado ; smaller forms go by the 

 name of sardines when tinned. Halliwell gives sarding as 

 synonymous with the pilchard. In Cornwall it is known 

 as hern, hernan and dean. The term pilchard has been 

 variously derived, some considering it to be from " pillch " 

 an old English word signifying a piece of cloth to wrap 

 round a young child, because these fish were formerly 

 cooked in paper similarly to red mullets of the present 

 day. It has also been derived from peltzer, a name by 

 which it was known to some early northern continental 

 authors. Garvie-herring, Scotland. 



B. vi.-vii., D. 17-18, V. 6-8, A. 17, 18, L. 1. 29-30, Caec. 

 pylori, numerous. Vert. 22 | 31. 



Length of head 4f to 5^- ; height of body 4f to 5 ; length 

 of caudal fin 6 to 6% in the total length. Eyes. With 

 adipose lids, diameter of each 3^ to 4 in the length of the 

 head, \\ diameters from the end of the snout, and i apart. 

 Lower jaw slightly prominent ; the maxilla reaches to 

 beneath the first third of the eye. Opercle with distinct 



