PISCES. 209 
especially abundant in various parts of the Mediterranean. It is distin- 
guished, as a genus, by the projecting and pointed upper jaw, and the long 
anal. The top of the head and back is blue; irids, sides, and belly, 
silvery white. This fish was well known to the ancient Greeks and 
Romans, who prepared from it a sauce called garum, held in great favor. 
They are taken in countless numbers on the coast of Sardinia, 400,000 
having been caught at a single haul. The fishing is highly successful by 
night, when the anchovies are readily attracted by the glare of fire-pans. 
In preparing them for purposes of commerce the head and viscera must be 
removed ; the former being bitter, and for this reason called Lncrassicholus 
by Aristotle. The anchovies, after being washed clean, are placed with 
the belly upwards in vessels, a layer of fish alternating with one of salt, 
until the whole is full. Pressure must be exerted to drive out the oil as 
much as possible. A hole is left in the top of the vessel, which is then 
exposed to the sun. After fermentation has commenced, the hole is 
stopped up, and the vessel removed to a store-house. The operation is not 
completed until the following year. The anchovy is taken from December 
to May. 
The Clupeide, with non-projecting upper jaws, are divided into various 
genera, as Clupea, Sardinella, Harengula, Pellona, Meletta, Alosa, and 
others. A distinction was formerly made between a genus Alosa, charac- 
terized by an emargination of the upper jaw, and Clupea, with the border 
of the jaw continuous or entire. This division, however, has been found to 
be inadequate to the wants of the present system. 
Alosa vulgaris, a European species, figured in pl. 81, fig. 1, is repre- 
sented in America by one of much finer flavor, the A. sapidissima, or 
common American shad. This well known species commences its entrance 
into our rivers, at periods varying from January to May, according to the 
latitude. It penetrates all the Atlantic streams, and when unobstructed by 
dams or other impediments, travels to a considerable distance from the 
mouth for the purpose of depositing its spawn. They are taken in great 
numbers, especially in Chesapeake and Delaware bays, by various means, 
the most conspicuous of which are large seines and gill nets. The price 
varies from five to fifty dollars per hundred, according to the abundance or 
size. As already remarked, various herrings occur in immense numbers. 
Conspicuous among European species, in this respect, is the sprat, Harengula 
sprattus (pl. 81, fig. 4) ; but vastly more so the common herring, Clupea 
harengus (pl. 81, fig. 2). The true abode of the immense hordes of herring 
is not, even at this day, definitely ascertained, the fish being scarcely known, 
except in its wanderings. Some naturalists suppose it to come from the 
high north to deposit its spawn upon the shores of the North Sea; others, 
again, consider the bottom of the North Sea to be its home, since it is first 
visible at the Shetland Islands in April. Here myriads of herrings combine 
into armies many miles in length, and then pass on to the coasts of Norway, 
England, Germany, and the Netherlands. From the main army, branches 
go off in various directions, supplying almost the whole coast of Europe, 
and possibly extend their migrations even to the northern coast of North 
418 
