183 
PLAICE. 
thus known, as an ordinary occurrence, that a great difference 
of price has existed between marine animals caught within a 
few miles of each other; and fishermen are quick to discern 
this in the appearance of fishes which are taken at different 
stations in the sea. 
In the seas of Europe the Plaice is found considerably 
toward the north, so that it is known along the coasts of 
Sweden, and in the Baltic. It is also met with in the 
Mediterranean; but it is nowhere in greater plenty than in 
a moderate depth of water round the British Islands, where it 
forms an important object of the ti*awl fishery; and we are 
informed that the enormous number of thirty-eight millions of 
tliesc fishes has formed the usual yearly supply to the markets 
of London. It is probable, however, that this amount is now 
greatly reduced, as I am informed by an old fisherman that 
so long since as the year 1833 the numbers taken by him on 
the coast of Cornwall had much fallen off from the time of 
his early experience. This large deficiency in his gains is 
ascribed to the destruction of the young and embryo fish, as 
well as of the fishing-ground and food, by the increased 
practice of trawling. 
This fish, in common with several others of the same family, 
is taken with a line, and also with the spiller; the latter 
being, in fact, a representation on a small scale, as regards 
the hooks and snoozing, of the bultey or long line already 
described; the bait being the common worm of the beach, or 
shell-fish deprived of its shell, and the situation for the fishery 
some sheltered sandy bay where it may remain safe from 
interruption. 
The Plaice sheds its spawn in spring; and Lacepede gives, 
on the authority of a friend, a curious account of the hatching 
of the young, which we copy, without being able to vouch 
for its accuracy or probability, as he also confesses for himself; 
but his final opinion is worthy of notice, as it may account 
for the conveyance of some kinds of fishes into situations 
where, under other circumstances, we could scarcely suppose 
they would be found. Eor a long time, says this author, the 
opinion has been held, as well in England as in France, that 
the Plaice is produced from a small crustacean animal of the 
shrimp kind; and it became the wish of Dr. Deslandes to 
