Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/258

244 in the stomach of a large old one; a sufficient proof of piscine voracity.

We shall illustrate the genus by this, its most valuable species, the common Herring (Clupea harengus, .), so largely used, both in its fresh and salted condition, as the food of the poorer

classes of society. In form it is much compressed, its depth greatly exceeding its thickness. The lower jaw projects considerably beyond the upper; there are a few small teeth on both jaws and the tongue; the eye is large; the line of the belly is sharp, but not notched. The colours when fresh are a fine greenish blue on the upper parts, and on the sides and belly silvery white.

The immense hosts in which this fish assembles