150 VERTEBRATA. PISCES. 



Clupea,* the Herrings. 



The whole form is flattened sidewise, and the 

 belly even comes to a well-defined edge, which is 

 notched by the scales, like the teeth of a saw ; the 

 scales are large, and very slightly attached ; the teeth 

 minute or sometimes wanting ; the gills are so much 

 divided, that all the species die almost instantly 

 on being taken from the water ; they have, of 

 all fishes, the most slender and most numerous 

 bones. Most of them are valuable as the objects of 

 important periodical fisheries, and the most impor- 

 tant of all, is doubtless, the common Herring (C. 

 Harengus], This fish, as well as the Mackarel, was 

 formerly supposed to migrate from clime to clime 

 in immense armies, but there seems now to be no 

 doubt, that the Herring inhabits the deep water 

 around our coast throughout the year, though it is 

 only in the autumn that they manifest their presence 

 in such numbers, when they come into the shallow 

 water to spawn. " And here," says Mr. Couch, 

 f ' we cannot but admire the economy of Divine Provi- 

 dence, by which this and several other species of fish 

 are brought to the shores, within the reach of man, 

 at the time when they are in their highest perfec- 

 tion, and best fitted to be his food."f 



The Dutch have long been celebrated for the 

 excellence of their cured Herrings, and much of the 



* Clypeus, a shield. f Yarrell's Br. Fishes, ii. 114. 



