THE BRILL. 375 



are not unfrequently taken, from whence the Edinburgh 

 market is abundantly supplied. On the Yorkshire coast an 

 extensive Turbot fishery is carried on, principally with the 

 hook, when lines of three miles in length are used. Each 

 line which is placed across the current and allowed to re- 

 main for six hours and then hauled up, has more than two 

 thousand hooks. The bait generally used is the sand-eel, 

 but portions of other fish will answer as well, provided 

 they be fresh. On the coast of Devon, turbot are taken 

 in trawl-nets ; but not in any numbers, until they leave the 

 rocky parts, and approach the sandy ground to deposit 

 their spawn. This they shed in spring, The flesh of the 

 turbot is the most esteemed as food of all the Pleuronec- 

 tidae, and meets with a ready market at a high price. 

 When fresh it is wholesome, but if eaten when in the slight- 

 est tainted, there are few stomachs with which it is found 

 to agree, being liable to create nausea and sickness, and 

 that sometimes to an alarming extent. It is in best con- 

 dition for the table when in roe. The most common weight 

 of this fish is from five to ten pounds. It is recorded to 

 have been taken the weight of one hundred and ninety 

 pounds, measuring six feet across. 



Rhombus vulgaris.* — The Brill. 



Specific Characters. — Body smooth, without tubercles ; scales dis- 

 tinct, entire, not ciliated. 



Description. — From a specimen fifteen inches in length ; breadth, 

 fins included, ten inches. Head about one-fourth of the whole 

 length ; form much resembling that of the turbot, but rather more 

 oval. Colour of the upper surface dark brown, with numerous white 

 and dusky spots ; under surface pure white. Dorsal fin commenc- 

 ing in front of the right eye, between it and the upper lip, and ter- 

 minating at a short interval from the base of the caudal rays ; the 



" Rhombus vulgaris, Yarr., Cuv. Pleuronectes rhombus, Jen., Don., 

 Penn. Pearl, Brett, Kite, Bonnet-Fluke. 



