. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE TURBOT. 479 net, a kind of huge dredge, with a mouth that often exceeds thirty feet in width. As these nets are drawn along tlie bed of the sea, the great beam which edges the mouth scrapes the mud and sand, and alarms the fishes to such an extent that they dash wildly about, and mostly dart into the net, whence they never escape. Vast numbers of Soles are taken by this method of fishing, and as the trawls bring to the surface enormous quantities of crustaceans, molluscs, zoophytes, and other marine inhabitants, the energetic naturalist cannot emplo
. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE TURBOT. 479 net, a kind of huge dredge, with a mouth that often exceeds thirty feet in width. As these nets are drawn along tlie bed of the sea, the great beam which edges the mouth scrapes the mud and sand, and alarms the fishes to such an extent that they dash wildly about, and mostly dart into the net, whence they never escape. Vast numbers of Soles are taken by this method of fishing, and as the trawls bring to the surface enormous quantities of crustaceans, molluscs, zoophytes, and other marine inhabitants, the energetic naturalist cannot employ his time better than in taking a sail in one of these boats, and enduring a few hours' inconvenience for the sake of the rich harvest which he is sure to reap. Some of the rarest and most valuable British animals have been taken in the trawl-nets. The finest Sole that I ever saw I took in a trawl-net in one of the creeks of the Medway. As to length and breadth, it was not very remarkable, but it was almost half as thick again as any Sole that I have seen. The Sole is in condition throughout the greater part of the year, the only time when it is not worth eating being from the end of February to the last week in March, when the fishes are full of roe, and the flesh is rather soft and watery. It is a hardy fish, and can soon be acclimatized to live in fresh water ; and it is said that under such circumstances the fish can be readily fattened, and become nearly twice as thick as when bred in the sea. Some- times the Soles venture into the mouths of rivers, passing about four or five miles into the fresh water, and depositing their multitudinous eggs in such localities. The colour of the Sole is almost always brown on the right side and white on the left, but examples of reversed Soles are not uncommon, where the left side is brown and the other is white. The scales are small, and give a rough, rasp-like sensation to the hand. The dimensions of this fish are very variable, an ave
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
