2fl8 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Descriptions. 



shell fish, which they cannot in any other cir- 

 cumstances be prevailed on to eat. 



The dog-fish are great enemies to the pilchards, 

 often devouring them in amazing numbers. 



THE SPRAT 



IS a native of the European seas, greatly re- 

 sembling the herring, though a good deal smaller, 

 and having thirteen rays in the back fin. They 

 are caught in the Thames from the beginning of 

 November till March, and afford a very season- 

 able relief to the poor of the metropolis. 



Sprats are sometimes pickled, and rendered in 

 flavor scarcely inferior to anchovies, from which 

 they are only to be distinguished by their bones 

 being indissoluble. At Yarmouth they are cured 

 like red herrings. 



THE SHAD 



HAS a forked snout, and black spots on its 

 sides : it frequents the river Thames about the 

 latter end of May, or the beginning of June, and 

 is considered a very coarse and insipid fish. The 

 Severn, however, affords it in very great perfec- 

 tion; and on its first appearance, which is usually 

 in May, or in very warm seasons in April, it is 

 esteemed a delicacy, especially in that part of 



