GROWTH or THE HEKKING. 169 



when we consider that the eggs of the salmon require to be left 

 for a period of ninety or a hundred days, even in favourable 

 seasons, before they quicken into life, and that the eggs of a 

 considerable number of fish are known to take a much longer 

 period than three weeks to ripen. The rate of growth of the 

 herring, and the time at which it begins to reproduce itself, are 

 not yet well understood ; indeed, it seems particularly difficult to 

 fix the period at which it reaches the reproductive stage. As 

 an example of the numerous absurd statements that have been 

 circulated about fish, the reader may study the following parar 

 graph :-^" Old fishermen'about Dunbar say the way herring 

 spawn is — first, the female herrings deposit their roe at some 

 convenient part on sand or shingly bottom ; second, the male 

 fish then spread their milt all over the roe to protect it from 

 enemies, and the influence of the tide and waves from moving it 

 about. The fishermen also say that when the young herrings 

 are hatched they can see and swim ; the mUt covering bursts 

 open, and they are free to roam about. Some naturalists think 

 the roes and mUts of herring are all mixed together promiscu- 

 ously, and left on the sands to bud and flourish. The fisher^ 

 men's idea seems to be the most likely of the two opinions." 



I have had young herrings of all sizes in my possession, from 

 those of an inch long upwards. The following are the measure- 

 ments of a few of my specimens which were procured about the 

 end of February, and not one of which had any appearance of 

 either roe or mUt, while some (the smaller fish) were strongly 

 serrated in the abdominal line, and others, as they advanced in 

 size, lost that distinguishing mark, and were only very slightly 

 serrated. The largest of these fish — and they must all have 

 been caught at one time — was eight inches long, nearly four 

 inches in circumference at the thickest part of the body, and 

 weighed a little over two ounces. The smallest of these 

 herring-fry did not weigh a quarter of an ounce, and was not 

 quite three inches in length. One of them, again, that was six 

 inches long, only weighed three-quarters of an ounce ; whilst 

 another of the same lot, four and a half inches long, weighed a 

 quarter of an ounce exactly. I do not propose at present to 

 enter at great length into the sprat controversy ; but, if the 

 sprat be the young of some one of the difiierent species of herring, 

 as I take leave to think it is, then the question of its growth 

 and natural economy will become highly important. Some 

 people say that the herring must have attained the age of seven 



