VI PREFACE. 



ports from Dieppe to Marseilles, obtaining such informa- 

 tion from personal observation as opportunities afforded. 



Portions of this work have been read before the Eoyal 

 Society and the Royal Physical Society, Edinburgh ; as 

 well as at the meetings of the British Association at 

 Oxford, Manchester, and Cambridge. 



The author believes he has satisfactorily solved the 

 hitherto disputed questions as to food, periodical visits, 

 migration, &c. ; he has also, for the first time, established 

 the important fact, that herrings visit our coasts twice in 

 the year, — that, in fact, there is a winter and a summer 

 herring periodically arriving on the different coasts ; and 

 already, from this knowledge, additional supplies have 

 been obtained where no previous fishery existed. 



The author gives here what has not hitherto been 

 attempted — tlie Geographical Distribution, and also the 

 Chronological Visits of the Herring, not only on the coasts 

 of the British Islands, but also on the other coasts where 

 its visits have been ascertained. 



The Natural History of the Herring is compre- 

 hended in Book First ; 



In Book Second, the different modes of fishing and 



CURING at home AND ABROAD ; 



And in Book Third, the progress of the herring 



FISHERY FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT DAY aS 



illustrative of its national importance. 



In the preparation of this work the author has enjoyed 

 peculiar advantages. Living on the banks of the Forth, 



