20 
MB. J. T. HOTBLAC1C ON THE HERRING. 
I have noticed speak of these Matties as fish that have never 
spawned ; hut surely fish which have spawned, and have had time 
to get fat again, would also he “ Matties,” for it cannot he seriously 
meant that Herring spawn but once and then mysteriously 
disappear. I fancy that Yarmouth and Lowestoft buyers do not 
think much of Matties, for have I not heard them complain of 
fish caught at a certain season as things without roes, running over 
with fat, and good for nothing ? But it is very difficult to arrive at 
a true estimation of the quality of fish being caught at any 
particular time, as the price depends apparently so much more on 
the supply than the quality ; and while the buyer (who really 
does not want them) will say they are bad, the seller will some- 
times loudly declare they are as good as can be. 
I think, however, it is certain that the further a Herring is from 
having spawned, and the nearer it is to spawning again (without 
having actually commenced the operation), the better it is ; and 
the reason is that when in the course of the reproductive process, 
the fat (so quickly accumulated after the worst and shotten state) 
has all been absorbed into the system and transformed into milt 
and roe, the fish is at its hardiest and best preserving condition. 
The worst caught (for, practically, shotten fish are not caught) 
appear to be those called “ Mazy,” which I have always supposed 
to be fish in the act of spawning, though I must confess that 
I should like to be further informed upon this point. I have 
heard of fish caught off the Humber, in very large quantities, and 
sold at Yarmouth and Lowestoft at very low prices, and called 
Dimlington rubbish; but Mr. Stacy-Watson, in his recent very 
valuable paper on the “Varieties of the Herring, and their localities,” 
refers to these Dimlington fish, while calling it a soft, tender, 
mazy fish, says, that it has a hard white roe and a leathery milt ; 
if so, may it not be rather a sickly than a spawning fish, for it 
could hardly be healthy in the act of spawning, with a hard roe 
and leathery milt. There are many other fish called mazy besides 
these Dimlington rubbish. Are they spawning fish, or such as 
are sickly from some other cause? 
The proper food of the Herring I take to be the many forms of 
minute Shrimp-like Crustaceans, often of only microscopic size, 
that so largely abound in the Northern Seas, though it is said that 
the “ Matties,” when they first arrive oil' the Hebrides, feed 
