The Smelt 
471 
of was one caught in the Severn, and weighed five 
pounds. 
Ancient writers strongly recommended this fish as 
food for sick persons, as they considered it peculiarly 
wholesome and easy of digestion. 
THE SMELT, OR SPARLING. (Osmerus eperlanus.) 
This fish is in length about eight or nine inches, and 
nearly one in breadth ; the body is of a light olive green, 
inclining to silver white. The smell, when the fish is 
fresh and raw, is not unlike that of ripe cucumbers, but 
it goes off in the frying-pan, and the Smelt then 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 micro- 
scope, its blood may be seen to circulate. 
Smelts are found on the coasts of all the northern coun- 
tries of Europe, and also 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. 
