ORDER Il BONY FISHES. SARDINES, ALEWIVES. DESH 
C’. Sprattus. —This species may be considered a small herring. It is 
of great value to the common people of the British coasts, supplying them 
during all the winter months with a cheap and agreeable article of food, and 
the farmers with an excellent and economical manure. 
C. Sardina. — The Sardine is a still smaller member of the same family, 
and is found in the Mediterranean, where the herring is not known. It is 
everywhere very much esteemed, and has become an extensive article of com- 
merce. It makes its appearance in the spawning season in countless multi- 
tudes along the shallow coasts. It is mostly caught in the neighborhood of 
Antibes, Fréjus, and St. Tropez, and sent pickled in enormous quantities to 
the fair of Beaucaire, from whence it is transported in small tin boxes to all 
parts of the world. 
CU. Minima.— This is a very numerous species in the waters along our 
coasts. The individuals are from one to four inches in length. The back 
is nearly black; the upper part of the sides is dark green, and the lower, 
silvery, with roseate and golden reflections. They are pretty fishes, but are 
of no value. 
Atosa.— The generic characteristics are the same as those of the preced- 
ing genus, with the exception of a deep notch in the upper jaw, in the 
centre. There are several very valuable species. 
al. Vernalis. —The Spring Herring, or Alewife. Iam satisfied that this 
is the same fish which Le Sueur describes under the name of Clupea fusclu- 
ta, and do not know why our ichthyologists give it a place in both genera. 
‘ 
The old Indian name of the fish was s1/o0f, whence, by corruption, the 
common designation, <cllew?/fe. Although the numerous iron mills and 
manufactories of various kinds, which have rendered our streams impure, 
have considerably diminished the tribe, it still is plentiful along our coasts, 
and, in numbers, equal to the demand. The length of the fish is about 
twelve inches; the back is bluish-purple; the sides light coppery, and the 
belly silvery. The head is small; the eyes and mouth large. 
Alewives are usually cured by drying or smoking, after being salted. They 
are highly valued as a relish, The fresh fish, when broiled or fried, forms a de- 
licious dish. In its dry state, it is an extremely cheap article of food, being 
now sold (1869) at eighteen cents per dozen. Taunton River, and all the 
streams that empty into Narragansett and Buzzard’s Bays, produce immense 
numbers of them. 
A. Vulgaris. —The Common Shad. This valuable and excellent tribe 
of fishes, although much reduced by the same causes which have restricted 
the salmons and alewives, is still sufficiently numerous to supply our markets. 
They approach the coasts in the poetic season of the year, and when the 
fields along the rivers and streams are glorious and fragrant with the bloom 
