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HERRING (Clupea harengus, Haring in G...

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 391 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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HERRING (Clupea harengus, Haring in German, le hareng in French, sill in Swedish)

HERRING (Clupea harengus, Haring in See also:
GERMAN
GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN
German, le hareng in See also:
FRENCH
FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)
French, See also:
SILL
SILL (O.Eng. syl, Mid. E. sylle, selle; the word appears in Icel. syll, svill, Swed. syll, and Dan. syld, and in German, as Schwelle; Skeat refers to the Teutonic root swal-, swell, the word meaning the rise or swell formed by a beam at a threshold; the L
SILL, EDWARD ROWLAND (1841-1887)
sill in See also:
SWEDISH
Swedish) , a See also:

fish belonging to the genus Clupea, of which more than sixty different See also:

SPECIES

species are known in various parts of the globe. The See also:

sprat, See also:

PILCHARD (in earlier 16th century forms pylcher, pilchar; of unknown origin; the Fr. pilseir is adapted from Eng.)

pilchard or sardine and See also:

SHAD

shad are species of the same genus. Of all See also:

sea-fishes Clupeae are the most abundant; for although other genera may comprise a greater variety of species, they are far surpassed by Clupea with regard to the number of individuals. The See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of the species of Clupea are of greater or less utility to See also:

man; it is only a few tropical species that acquire, probably from their See also:

food, highly poisonous properties, so as to be dangerous to persons eating them. But no other species equals the See also:

COMMON

common herring in importance as an See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article of food or See also:

commerce. It inhabits in incredible See also:

numbers the See also:

North Sea, the See also:

NORTHERN

northern parts of the See also:

ATLANTIC

Atlantic and the seas north of See also:

ASIA

Asia. The herring inhabiting the corresponding latitudes of the North Pacific is another species, but most closely allied to that of the eastern hemisphere. Formerly it was the See also:

general belief that the herring inhabits the open ocean See also:

close to the See also:

ARCTIC (Gr. "ApKroc, the Bear, the northern constellation of Ursa Major)

Arctic Circle, and that it migrates at certain seasons towards the northern coasts of See also:

EUROPE

Europe and See also:

AMERICA

America. This view has been proved to be erroneous, and we know now that this fish lives throughout the See also:

YEAR

year in the vicinity of our shores, but at a greater See also:

DEPTH

depth, and at a greater distance from the See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast, than at the See also:

time when it approaches See also:

LAND

land for the purpose of spawning. See also:

HERRINGS, BATTLE OF THE

Herrings are readily recognized and distinguished from the other species of Clupea by having an ovate patch of very small See also:

TEETH (O.E. Eel); plural of tooth, O.E. top)

teeth on the vomer (that is, the centre of the See also:

PALATE (Lat. palatum, possibly from the root of pascere, to feed)

palate). In the dorsal fin they have from 17 to 20 rays, and in the anal fin from 16 to 18; there are from 53 to 59 scales in the lateral See also:

LINE

line and 54 to 56 vertebrae in the vertebral See also:

COLUMN (Lat. columna)

column. They have a smooth gill-See also:

COVER (from the Fr. convert, from couvrir, to cover, Lat. cooperire)

cover, without those radiating ridges of See also:

bone which are so conspicuous in the pilchard and other Clupeae.

The sprat cannot be confounded with the herring, as it has no teeth on the vomer and only 47 or 48 scales in the lateral line. The spawn of the herring is adhesive, and is deposited on rough gravelly ground at varying distances from the coast and always in comparatively shallow See also:

WATER

water. The See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season of spawning is different in different places, and even in the same See also:

DISTRICT

district, e.g. the See also:

east coast of See also:

Scotland, there are herrings spawning in See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring and others in autumn. These are not the same fish but different races. Those which breed in See also:

winter or spring See also:

DEPOSIT (Lat. depositurn, from deponere, to lay down, to put in the care of)

deposit their spawn near the coast at the mouths of estuaries, and ascend the estuaries to a considerable distance at certain times, as in the Firths of Forth and See also:

Clyde, while those which spawn in summer or autumn belong more to the open sea, e.g. the See also:

GREAT

great shoals that visit the North Sea annually. Herrings grow very rapidly; according to H. A. See also:

Meyer's observations, they attain a length of from 17 to 18 mm. during the first See also:

month after hatching, 34 to 36 mm. during the second, 45 to 50 mm. during the third, 55 to 61 mm. during the See also:

FOURTH

fourth, and 65 to 72 mm. during the fifth. The See also:

SIZE

size which they finally attain and their general See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition depend chiefly on the abundance of food (which consists of crustaceans and other small marine animals), on the temperature of the water, on the season at which they have been hatched, &c. Their usual size is about 12 in., but in some particularly suitable localities they grow to a length of 15 in., and instances of specimens measuring 17 in. are on See also:

RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record. In the Baltic, where the water is gradually losing its saline constituents, thus becoming less adapted for the development of marine species, the herring continues to exist in large numbers,. but as a dwarfed See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form, not growing either to the size or to the condition of the North-Sea herring. The herring of the See also:

AMERICAN

American See also:

side of the Atlantic is specifically identical with that of Europe.

A second species (Clupea leachii) has been supposed to exist on the See also:

BRITISH

British coast; but it comprises only individuals of a smaller size, the produce of an See also:

early or See also:

LATE

late spawn. Also the so-called " See also:

white-bait " is not a distinct species, but consists chiefly of the See also:

fry or the See also:

young of herrings and sprats, and is obtained "in perfection" at localities where these small fishes find an abundance of food, as in the See also:

ESTUARY (from the Lat. aestuarium, a place reached by aestus, the tide)

estuary of the See also:

THAMES

Thames. Several excellent accounts of the herring have been published, as by See also:

VALENCIENNES

Valenciennes in the loth vol. of the Histoire naturelle See also:

des poissons, and more especially by Mr J. M. See also:

Mitchell, The Herring, its Natural See also:

HISTORY

History and See also:

NATIONAL

National Importance (See also:

EDINBURGH

Edinburgh, 1864). See also:

RECENT

Recent investigations are described in the Reports of the See also:

FISHERY (LAW OF)

Fishery See also:

BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

Board for Scotland, and in the reports of the German Kommission zur Untersuchung der Deutschen Meere (published at See also:

KIEL

Kiel). (J. T. C.) HERRING-BONE, a See also:

TERM

term in See also:

ARCHITECTURE (Lat. architectura, from the Gr. ap)(LTEKrwv, a master-builder)

architecture applied to alternate courses of bricks or See also:

stone, which are laid diagonally with binding courses above and below: this is said to give a better See also:

bond to the See also:

wall, especially when the stone employed is stratified, such as Stonefield stone, and too thin to be laid in See also:

HORIZONTAL

horizontal courses. Although it is only occasionally found in See also:

MODERN

modern buildings, it was a type of construction constantly employed in See also:

ROMAN

Roman, See also:

BYZANTINE

Byzantine and Romanesque See also:

WORK

work, and in the latter is regarded as a test of very early date. It is frequently found in the Byzantine walls in Asia See also:

Minor, and in Byzantine churches was employed decoratively to give variety to the wall See also:

SURFACE

surface. Sometimes the See also:

DIAGONAL (Gr. &a, through, ywvia, a corner)

diagonal courses are reversed one above the other.

Examples in See also:

France exist in the churches at Querqueville in See also:

NORMANDY

Normandy and St Christophe at Suevres (Loir et See also:

CHER

Cher), both dating from the loth See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, and in See also:

England herring-bone See also:

MASONRY

masonry is found in the walls of castles, such as at See also:

GUILDFORD

Guildford, See also:

Colchester and See also:

TAMWORTH

Tamworth. The term is also applied to the paving of See also:

STABLE

stable yards with bricks laid See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat diagonally and alternating so that the See also:

head of one See also:

BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick butts against the side of another; and the effect is more pleasing than when laid in parallel courses.

End of Article: HERRING (Clupea harengus, Haring in German, le hareng in French, sill in Swedish)

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