THE NATUKAL HISTORY OF THE HERRING. 7 



In Baron Cuvier's valuable work on the Natural His- 

 tory of Fishes (which contains very considerable, and, to 

 some extent, interesting details as to the herring), edited 

 and enlarged by Professor Valenciennes of Paris, several 

 errors exist which it is necessary to refer to, seeing that 

 this is a work of the very highest authority. At page 35, 

 vol. XX., in the " Histoire Naturelle des Poissons," he 

 says : " Les plus grandes exemplaires que nous recevous 

 sur nos marches n'ont guere que dix pouces, a dix pouces 

 et demi, de longeur, mais nous voyous le hareng atteindre 

 a des dimensions beaucoup plus considerables dans les 

 mers clu nord, nous en avons regu du Musee de Berghem 

 (Bergen) de treize pouces et demi de longeur. Une 

 remarque qui est importante c'est c^ue dans ces mers 

 Septentrionale jusque dans les mers Blanc, tons les indi- 

 vidus ont une grosseur invariable, toujours superienne 

 a celles de nos harengs de la Manche doiit les petites 

 dimensions sont egalement constantes." This statement 

 is incorrect. It is true that the herrings fished in 

 winter, or the end and the beginning of the year, on the 

 coast of Norway, are very large in size, and that some are 

 13| inches in length. But in summer large shoals of 

 another description of herring, not young herrings, but 

 with milt and roe, approach the Norwegian coasts, and 

 are fished in considerable quantities, and constitute an 

 important fishery every year, which are not larger than 

 the herring of the said Manche or English Channel ; and 

 even in some seasons on the coast of Norway they are not 

 larger than the seventh class, and therefore smaller than 

 the herrings which appear on some of our Scottish coasts 

 and in the English Channel. 



At page 49 of the same volume, he says that the 

 distinguished naturalist Noel de la Morieniere (whose 

 acquaintance we had the pleasure to make when he was 



