THIS CA11P. 
|S9 
reception; anti, by nets made, for the occafeipn, they take 
sometimes above two thousand barrels at a single draught. 
The Sprat is now generally allowed not to be the fry of 
the herring, as, from its great resemblance, was formerly 
supposed. The back fin of the sprat is more remote from 
the nose than that of the herring; but a principal distinc- 
tion is, that the belly of both the herring ai>d pilchard is 
quite smooth, whereas that of the sprat is serrated. The 
herring has (ifty-six vertebras, the sprat only forty-eight. 
The sprat seldom exceeds five inches ip length. 
The Anchovy is about six inches and a half in length. 
The body is slender, but thicker in proportion than the her- 
ring. The scales are large, and easily fall off'. The back 
is green, and semipellucid, the sides and belly silvery ; and 
the tail forked. 
The Shad is taken in many rivers ; those of the Severn 
are most esteemed, and are distinguished by the London 
fishmongers by the French name of Alosse. The Thames 
shad is a very insipid coarse fish, and, when it visits the 
Severn, is called the twaile ; it is held in great disrepute. 
The difference between the two kinds is as follows 
The true shad weighs from four to eight pounds; the twaile 
from half a pound to two. The twuite may also be known 
from a small shad, by having one or more black spots on 
the sides, when it has only one, it is always near the 
gill. 
The shad in form rather resembles the herring, but is 
larger and thinner, or more compressed in proportion. The 
head slopes considerably from the back ; and the under jaw 
ts longer than the upper. 
The Caup is a genus, which besides the fish which bears 
that name, includes several others, well known to anglers, 
■viz. the barbel, the gudgeon, the crucian, the bream, the 
tench, the roach, dace, &c. 
The carp is one of the naturalized fish in England, having 
been introduced there by Leonard Maschal, about the year 
15 14, to whom the English were also indebted for that 
excellent apple the pippin. The many good tilings which 
fhe island wanted before that period are enumerated in 
*hts old distich : 
“ Turkies, carp, hops, pickerel, and beer, 
Came into England all in one year.*' 
As to the two last articles we have some doubts, the 
others we believe to be true. Russia wants these fish, at this 
