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A DESCRIPTION OF 
THE SMELT, OR SPARLING. (Salmo eperlanus.} 
THIS fish is in length about eight or nine inches, and 
nearly one broad ; the body is of a light olive green, in- 
clining to silver white. The smell, when fresh and raw, 
is not unlike that of ripe cucumbers ; but it goes off in 
the frying-pan, and then the Smelt yields a tender and 
most delicious food. Smelts are sea-fish, and inhabit the 
sea-coast and harbours ; but they are often taken in the 
Thames, the Medway, and other large rivers, which they 
ascend in the spawning season. The skin of this fish is 
so transparent, that with the help of a microscope, its 
blood may be seen to circulate. 
Smelts are found on the coasts of all the northern coun- 
tries of Europe, and even in the Mediterranean. They 
vary considerably in size. Mr. Pennant states that the 
largest he had ever heard of measured thirteen inches in 
length, and weighed half a pound. 
