Clafs IV. Sh VEE Ane 265 
and April they fpawn; after which* they all return 
to the falt water, and are not feen in the rivers till 
the next feafon. It has been obferved, that they 
never come into the Mer/ey as long as there is any 
{now water in the river. 
‘Thefe fith vary greatly in fize, but the largeft we 
ever heard of was thirteen inches long, and weighed 
half a pound. : 
They have a very particular fcent, from whence 
is derived one of their Engii/b names Smelt, i. e. 
fmellit. That of Sparling, which is ufed in Wales, 
and the north of England, is taken from the French 
Eperlan. ‘There is a wonderful difagreement in the 
opinion of people in refpect to the {cent of this fifh; 
fome affert it flayors of the violet; the Germans, for 
a very different reafon, diftinguifh it by the elegant 
title of Stinckfifch**. 
It isa fith of a very beautiful form and color: the 
head is tranfparent, and the fkin in general fo thin, 
that with a good microfcope the blood may be ob- 
ferved to circulate. 
The irides are filvery: the pupil of a full black : 
the under jaw is the longeft : in the front of the up- 
per jaw are four large teeth; thofe in the fides of 
both are fmall; in the roof of the mouth are two 
* In the river Conway, near Llanrw/f, and in the Mer/zy they 
never continue above three or four weeks. 
** And not without reafon, if we may depend on Linzcus, 
who fays there are in the Baltic two varieties, the one, which is 
called Nors, fatidiffimus, fiercoris infiar, which in the early {pring, 
when the-peafants come to buy it, fills all the flreets of Up/al 
with the fmell. He adds, that at this feafon agues reign there. 
Faun. fies p. 125. 
¢ a Sia rows 
Defcr, 
