90 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



inches long (Dunn). In 'fact, the young at the commencement of winter are 

 small, and their growth is slow np to the following spring. 



Hermaphrodites. — Couch observed upon having noticed these in the form of a 

 lobe of roe lying between the usual pair of lobes of milt: while A. Malm like- 

 wise describes and figures such. 



Diseases. — The nipper crab, Polyhius Hensloivii, which swims near the surface, 

 has been known to kill mackerel. The Myxine, a form of sea lamprey, likewise 

 bores into its flesh. Mr. Dunn was good enough to send me an example of a 

 fish louse, Rocinela dannoniensis, which he took off a mackerel at Mevagissey, in 

 September, 1879. He observed that some hundreds have been observed on these 

 fish, and all he noticed or heard of were found clinging near the pectoral fin, 

 except one which was imbedded near the vent. When half a mackerel is used 

 as a bait, the lice will sometimes in a few minutes scoop out all the fish, leaving 

 nothing but the skeleton and the skin. 



As food.— Mackerel are much esteemed, the moderately sized more than the 

 very large ones, but they taint very rapidly, as well as lose flavour when kept. 

 Some prefer those captured during the autumn and winter months, while others 

 like such as are in roe taken in May and June or even July. Those marked with 

 a dark interrupted line along the side are said to be of inferior quality. Owing 

 to the rapidity with which these fish decompose in hot weather, and the 

 consequent deleterious results to consumers,, vendors were permitted as early as 

 1698 to cry them through the streets of London on Sundays, an enactment 

 which does not seem to have ever been repealed. The employment of steam 

 carriers in the place of sailing vessels, and which take the captures from the 

 various boats and convey them rapidly to market, has proved a great gain to all 

 parties, and a boon to the general public. They are usually packed in boxes 

 containing about fifty each for sending to market, ice being added. This fish 

 was much relished by the Romans, because its internals furnished the precious 

 garuin, a sort of pickle which gave a high relish to their sauces, besides being 

 medicinally employed, and was said at one time to sell for a sum which would be 

 equivalent to £48 of our present money for two gallons of it. 



Modes of cooking. — They may be boiled, and fennel or gooseberry sauce as 

 well as melted butter is sent to table with them : they may be stuffed with force- 

 meat and baked : or split open, the backbone removed, and the fish fried in lard : 

 they are likewise very good broiled whole or stewed with claret. Fillets of 

 mackerel may be fried, broiled, boiled, or stewed in wine. 



Habitat. — Extensively distributed in the northern and temperate seas of both 

 hemispheres, and as far south as the Canary Isles. In the Mediterranean the 

 fishery commences at the same time as in the north of Europe, or in the English 

 Channel, or even earlier. They are taken in the Gulf of Lyons from April until 

 August, and in Provence even in May, continuing sometimes until October. At 

 Nice they are said to abound during the spring, and at Genoa are known as April 

 fish. They extend their range into the Black Sea, and during the summer 

 numbers are present, while those of various sizes appear all to breed : they are 

 said not to be found in the Sea of Azof. These fish differ in size and taste not only 

 with the seasons, but also the localities they inhabit : we find that they are finest 

 in the English Channel. They are always few in the Baltic, although they 

 occasionally occur off the coast of Sweden, as in 1851, but they were small, it 

 taking about three to average one pound weight. Neither do they seem to be 

 always esteemed, at least, in Amsterdam : and in the Mediterranean, as a rule, 

 they are dry and inferior in flavour. In the Western Hemisphere they extend 

 from Greenland to as far south as Cape Cod in Massachusets. 



In the British Isles they are most abundant along the south coast, up the 

 eastern shores to Norfolk and Suffolk, and also along the western counties. 

 They appear off the Scottish coast late in the summer, as has been already alluded 

 to under the head of habits. Their presence is often detected by large flocks of 

 sea birds, which are swooping down and feeding on the fishes below them, and 

 show the fishermen where they may be found. 



