HERRINGS AND HERRING-FISHING. 
311 
other conditions. 1. Maties, or fat herring; 2. Fall herring ; 
and 3. lean or Shotten herring. The Maties vary in length 
from six to ten inches, and are known by the small size of the 
milt and roe , and the great quantity of fat which presents itself 
in the neighbourhood of the digestive canal. The Fall herring 
has the milt and roe completely developed, and occupying 
nearly the entire cavity of. the abdomen, the fatty matter 
having been absorbed during the development of the repro- 
ductive system. Finally, the Lean or Shotten herring’ is that 
which has deposited its ova or shed the fluid of the milt, and 
which is thus reduced to a state of exhaustion. In this state, 
the herring has hardly a particle of fat entering into the con- 
stitution of its tissues, which on this account are devoid of 
their normal flavour. It may at once be distinguished from 
the Maties by inflating the roe, which then assumes the size of 
those of the adult or full individual. 
The spawning of the herring occurs at the periods before 
mentioned. The phenomenon does not differ in any essential 
particular from that observed in other fish. The female ap- 
proaches the suitable ground, and expels the ova, which are sur- 
rounded by an exceedingly glutinous material, by means of 
which they become firmly attached to the surrounding objects, 
— rocks, stones, &c. Next, the milt fluid is shed upon the mass, 
and so fertilization is effected. The ova being, by virtue of 
their attachment to the stony sea-bed, preserved from the un- 
favourable influence of storms and such-like, gradually undergo 
their development into genuine fish. This process is generally 
completed in about a fortnight subsequent to the deposition, 
and it seems likely that in about ten weeks from the latter 
period, they reach a length of three inches.* At the end of 
the year they are perfect herrings. Few animals are more 
prolific than the herring ; and were it not for the number of 
destructive agencies at work, it would be impossible to conceive 
of the strange consequences which would follow the reproduction 
of this creature. A single specimen weighing half a pound 
was found by Mr. Bucklandf to contain 19,840 ova. Dr. 
HarmerJ sets the number down as 36,000; but even on the 
supposition that the actual quantity is the mean of these two 
sets of figures, what an enormous number it gives as the off- 
spring in one year of a single individual ! Truly the strata 
being now deposited adjacent to our coasts will afford a rich 
treat in ichthyologic palaeontology to future geologists. If 
* Report of “ Royal Commission,” 1863, p. 27. 
f “ Fish-Hatching.” 1863, p. 13. 
X “ Philosophical Transactions,” lvii. p. 280. 
