282 THE HERRING. 



pilcarduSy) and the shad, (clupea alosa,) of which the 

 fry has been already mentioned as the white-bait of the 

 estuary of the Thames and other places. The common 

 herring and the pilchard are nearly of the same size, 

 about twelve inches long when full grown ; but there 

 are some obvious distinctions between them, both in 

 their appearance and in the places where they are found. 

 Their colour is nearly the same ; but the pilchard is 

 more elevated in the back, and rounder than the herring ; 

 it is also blunter in the muzzle, and the scales are larger. 

 The most obvious distinction between them, however, 

 is the position of the dorsal fin. In the pilchard that 

 is placed exactly over the centre of gravity, so that if 

 the fish be suspended by it, the body hangs in a hori- 

 zontal direction. In the herring it is placed further 

 back than the centre of gravity, so that the head droops 

 when the fish is lifted by it. The same distinction 

 holds in the fry as well as in the full-grown fish. The 

 fry of both are taken in great numbers, and known by 

 the common name of sprats. In its locality, the pil- 

 chard is a little further south than the herring, being 

 most abundant on the coasts of the British channel, and 

 very rare on those of the north of England and Scot- 

 land ; while in the latter the herring is found in great 

 abundance. Both fish are, however, a little capricious 

 with regard to the places which they frequent, and the 

 regularity of frequenting them ; and no cause can be 

 satisfactorily assigned for their caprices. 



When salt was subject to a high duty, and sufficient 

 salt was not kept at those places where herrings make 

 their capricious appearances, great loss was often sus- 

 tained. This happened occasionally on many parts of 



