NATURALISTS CABINET. 



Bloch's observations. 



on the coasts of Iceland ; it is caught all the 

 year round in the countries bordering on the 

 Baltic sea and German ocean." He likewise says, 

 11 that it is impossible for the fish to make a cir- 

 cuit of several thousands of miles in such a short 

 space of time ;" and asks, " why, if the herrings 

 were frightened from the Arctic ocean by the 

 whales, they should go many hundreds of miles 

 after the danger has ceased ; why they should 

 return, and expose themselves again to the per- 

 secutions of their formidable enemy ; and how it 

 happens that we can discover no traces of their 

 return ? But," adds this author, " all these dif- 

 ficulties vanish, if we attentively observe nature 

 in all her operations. In common with other 

 fish, the herrings leave their usual abode in the 

 spawning season, and repair to places, that are 

 more convenient for the purpose. Like them 

 they quit the smooth bottom of the ocean to 

 seek spots rendered rugged and uneven by the 

 actions of the currents, in order there to deposit 

 their spawn. When the season approaches, it is 

 this instinct, and not the dread of the whales, 

 that impels them to seek those places. They 

 spawn in different bodies at three different times, 

 and usually according to their age. Besides 

 this, as the season of spawning happens later or 

 earlier, according to the temperature of the water 

 and the air, it is easy to account for the appear- 

 ance of the herring at different times. For 

 example, in the Baltic and on the Norwegian 



