42 DESCBIPTION OF THE HERRING, 



semblance to the herring, although it has sometimes been 

 found to weigh eight pounds. 



By noticing these characteristics the herring may be 

 easily known from those fishes now mentioned ; and 

 we shall now proceed to describe the prominent and 

 more interesting distinctions of the herring, without 

 at the same time taking up too much space in minute 

 details. 



Description of the Herring. — The herring is a soft- 

 finned fish, of the bony or spinous class, having a mem- 

 brane of eight rays covering the gills ; a scaly carinated 

 line along the belly, from the head to the tail, and the 

 under jaw longer than the upper. 



Head. — The head is about the fifth part of the entire 

 length of the body — which is without scales — is almost 

 flat on the top, and slightly bent towards the nose, the 

 under jaw projecting beyond the upper jaw. 



Eyes. — The eyes are placed on the sides of the head, 

 about the middle of its length, the iris being of a silvery- 

 white colour, and the pupil black ; they are slightly oval, 

 and are furnished with double ej^elids. 



Tongue. — The tongue, although short, is distinctly 

 formed, and of a whitish colour ; some of the teeth, as 

 mentioned hereafter, are placed on the lingual or tongue- 

 plate. 



Ears. — It has no external organs of hearing, but a 

 fringed orifice appears below the eye, on the inner side of 

 that part of the head which covers the gills, which is pro- 

 bably that organ. The fishermen affirm that they hear ; 

 and state that when a noise is made in the boat, the pecu- 

 liar sound they make when swimming on the surface 

 ceases. And we are told that in former times the church- 

 bell of St Monance in Fife, which hung upon a tree 



