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reader to Mr. Mitchell* s essay, in which much will be found 
to interest both fishermen and antiquaries. 
The origin of the word herring , like the animal which is so 
named, is to some extent a mystery. McNicoll* gives us 
the two derivations, heer and hairang ; the former being an 
old Saxon word, signifying a host, the latter an obsolete 
French word, of a similar meaning. Both derivations are 
most probably conjectural, but are nevertheless apt enough, 
as they refer to the enormous shoals in which these fish almost 
invariably appear. 
Zoologically, the herring belongs to the great family Clupidse, 
which embraces the kindred species pilchard, sprat, and 
whitebait. Of these, the pilchard is the only one, from its size, 
liable to be mistaken for the herring ; it is, however, a much 
thicker fish, and its scales are fewer and of a larger size 
than those of the latter. In a natural history point of view, 
the herring has not been fairly treated. Till within recent 
years, when naturalists began to abandon romance-writing, and 
betook themselves to well-ascertained facts, the descriptions 
of the herring* s habits were simply a combination resulting 
from the operation of imaginative minds on erroneously 
recorded evidence. Pennant, j* and — strange to say— a later 
writer, J inform us, that the herring is a migratory animal, 
which at certain seasons comes in shoals from the Northern 
Ocean. Furthermore, that these armies are well organized 
and disciplined, and are not only controlled by properly 
appointed governors, but are led on by a vanguard selected 
from among the more dauntless members of the corps. That 
in this fashion the host traverses thousands of miles of ocean, 
till it meets its first check in the Shetland isles, “ which 
divide it into two parts ; one wing takes to the east, the other 
to the west of Great Britain, and fill every bay and creek with 
their numbers ; others pass on towards Yarmouth, the great 
and ancient mart of herrings; they then pass through the 
British Channel, and after that, in a manner disappear.** It is 
at first a little difficult to conceive how men can put forward 
such wild speculations in the absolute garb of matters of fact. 
Indeed, in reading Pennant*s graphic description one is hardly 
led to doubt the veracity of the writer, so positive is the 
character of the statements made ; yet nothing could be further 
from the real condition of things than Pennant* s narrative, 
* “ Dictionary of Natural History Terms, with their Derivations,” &c. By 
D. M‘Nicoll, M.D. 1863. P. 211. — Consult also, “Encyclopaedia Metro- 
politana,” vol. xx. 
t “ British Zoology.” 1776. Yol. iii. 
X “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” article Ichthyology. 
