564 
THE OCEAN WORLD. 
privilege she has granted thee ; she has taken with both hands what 
she has awarded with one ! 
THE CLUPEADiE, 
Of which the herring is the graceful, useful, and well-known type, 
and to which also the pilchard, the shad, and the anchovy belong. The 
Clupea have the body longish and compressed, especially at the belly, 
where it comes to an edge ; it is clothed with large scales, forming 
towards the belly a saw-like edge, which is very thin and easily 
Fig. 382 . The Herring (Clupea harengus). 
removed. One dorsal fin without spinous rays, and one ventral, both 
placed near the middle of the body, are its locomotive characteristics. 
The Herring, Clupea liarenpus (Fig. 382), is too well known to require 
description ; its appearance is magnificent ; but we shall only remark 
here that its back, which in the fish after death is of an indigo bluish 
colour, is green during life ; the other parts vary considerably in their 
colours and markings, sometimes representing written characters, 
which ignorant fishermen have considered to be words of mystery. 
In November, 1587, two herrings were taken on the coast of Norway, 
on the bodies of which were markings resembling Gothic printed 
