THE SOLE. 



■237 



Turbot. 



may be easily recognised by the large unequal and obtuse 

 tubercles on its upper part. 



The number of turbot brought 

 to Billingsgate within twelve 

 months, up to a recent period, 

 was 87,958. Though very con- 

 siderable quantities of this fish 

 are now taken on various parts of 

 our own coasts, from the Orkneys 

 to the Land's End, yet a prefer- 

 ence is given to those caught by 

 the Dutch fishermen, who are supposed to draw not less than 

 80,000L for the supply of the London market alone. According 

 to Mr. Low, it is rare along our most northern shores, but 

 increases iD numbers on proceeding to the south. 



Next to the turbot, the Sole is reckoned the most delicate of 

 the flat-fishes. It inhabits the sandy shore all round our coast, 

 where it keeps close to the bottom, 

 indiscriminately feeding on smaller 

 testaceous animals, Crustacea, anne- 

 lides, radiata, and the spawn and fry 

 of other fishes. It is found northward 

 as far as the Baltic and the seas of 

 Scandinavia, and southward along the 



shores of Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean. The con- 

 sumption is enormous, for Mr. Bertram informs us that no less 

 than 100,000,000 soles are annually brought to the London 

 market.* They seldom take any bait, and are caught almost 



Sole. 



* We are told by the same author (" Harvest of the Seas," Murray, 1866) that 

 500,000 cod-fish, 25,000,000 mackerel, 35,000,000 plaice, and 200,000,000 had- 

 docks, &c, form the yearly supply of the metropolis, which, besides this immense 

 number of -white-fish, consumes 50,000,000 red herrings and 1,600,000 dried cod. 

 These, with the addition of Molluscous shell-fish (oysters, &c.) to the amount of 

 920,000,000, and a daily demand for 10,000 lobsters during the season, afford an 

 instructive indication of what must be the requirement of the whole population of 

 the United Kingdom as regards fish food. 



The Report of the Commissioners appointed in the year 1863 to enquire into the 

 sea-fisheries of the United Kingdom gives us the gratifying intelligence that the 

 number of fishermen in Great Britain has nearly doubled within the last twenty 

 years, while the boats are increasing in number and size. IJo class of the popula- 

 tion is said to be in a more flourishing condition ; and this prosperity is no doubt 

 mainly due to the railroads, which have opened throughout the whole kingdom 



