PLATE LXIX. 
The critical remarks of Bloch upon those two fishes so nearly agree 
with those of Pennant, that it would be needless to repeat them. 
After an accurate comparison between them, he is persuaded 
(as indeed every one must be who examines them with attention) 
that they are specifically distinct. He speaks of the central position 
of the dorsal fin, and the magnitude of the scales, in the Pilchard, and 
those characters are alone sufficient to prove it distinct as a species 
from the common Herring, to which it is so closely allied. 
Our principal fishery for the Pilchard is off the coast of Cornwall, 
where they appear about the middle of July in vast shoals, but dis- 
appear again before winter. They are caught in great numbers by 
the inhabitants of some parts of Cornwall for the purpose of ex- 
trading oil from them. They are also dried, and sent in barrels as an 
article of export to other countries. 
The pectoral fin in the specimen we have figured contained fixteen 
rays: ventral eight : anal seventeen : dofsal eighteen, and tail thirty- 
two. 
