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extremities of the net are gradually pulled near the shore and made fast, and an impassable barrier lies between the pilchards and their native element.

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Another boat, with another net-the "tuck". arrives upon the scene of action. This net is cast inside the seine, in order to bring the fish to the surface. When all is ready, a flotilla of boats and barges puts off from the shore; every man, woman, and child, full of excitement, either finds a seat in the boats, or stands upon the beach. The men shout, the dogs bark, and above the din rises the steady chorus of the haulers"Yo! heave yo!" At last the shoal is borne upon the surface, a glittering mass of captives, each one in a frenzy of fear making leaping efforts to escape; but their captors dip buckets and baskets amongst the thick living mass, and empty the fish into the boats. Laden to the very gunwales, the boats are rowed to the shore, and again go off for another load: thus the whole shoal is secured, and the villagers celebrate their day's success by drinking prosperity to the nation of pilchards!

On the opposite side of the Channel, the mode of fishing is more like that of taking the herring; the nets are cast at night, the meshes being just large enough to admit the head of the Sardine, but not to allow the fish to pass; it is thus detained by its fins or gills. The net having been cast in a curve, the fish are frightened towards it; and as soon as the corks which are attached to its upper edge sink beneath the surface, it is a sign that a great many fish are entangled in the meshes.

When sardines are plentiful, a ton is sometimes taken at one sweep of the net, and after one expedition a boat has been known to return with 25,000 or 30,000 fish. The pilchard-fishing continues during five or six months, and in this time the Bretagne fishers have in some years taken 7,500,000,000 of the fish, which

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when sold fresh would realise £300,000. The Basque fishermen use a net of a different description-a sacknet, with a ring of horn, which is drawn through the water.

Sardines are prepared for consumption in many ways: sometimes they are merely salted, sometimes they are packed in cases, and between each layer a quantity of salt is spread; after remaining salted in barrels for a month, they are washed, and afterwards submitted to pressure, by which means the oil and brine they contain are squeezed out.

Sardines, prepared with salt mixed with red ochre, are frequently sold as anchovies.

Generally, however, sardines are preserved in oil. The mode in which this is done is as follows:-When they are brought from the boats, they are packed in baskets, 200 or 300 in each; women receive them, and, with a dexterity acquired by practice, they, with one cut, take off the head, open the fish, and clean out the entrails. The fish are then tossed into brine, where they are left for a few hours; and on being removed they are thoroughly washed, and then laid on wicker panniers to dry. When dry they are plunged into boiling oil, where they are left for some minutes, and are then packed in the well-known tin-boxes, which are filled with oil, and the lids are at once soldered down. The full boxes are afterwards boiled in water.

But for the delicate flavour of the pilchard or sardine to be really enjoyed, it must be eaten a few hours after it has been caught. When quite fresh, the skin easily peels off, and the flesh can be pulled off the bones in two small fillets.

We cannot leave this subject without mentioning the Anchovy, a little fish of great importance in culinary science. The anchovy accompanies the sardine, but is seldom found in the ocean, the Mediterranean being its proper habitat. habitat. Upon the south coast of

France the anchovy trade is vigorously plied. The women prepare the little fish, taking off the head and tail, and completely clearing the inside with their thumb-nails. The fish then pass through a pickling process, and, packed in miniature barrels, are sent off to Beaucaire, where merchants from all parts of the country congregate to buy them.-The Works of the Sea.

CHAPTER XXII.

STRUCTURE OF AN EGG.

BEYOND the fact that an egg consists of yolk, white, and shell, little is popularly known respecting its structure; and even a less amount of knowledge prevails regarding the changes that occur in it during the development of the embryo. In this as in all other cases, ignorance leads to serious errors in the management of poultry, and consequently to severe losses.

The first part of the egg that claims our notice is the shell. This, which usually weighs about one-tenth of the entire egg, is formed of carbonate of lime. The materials of the eggshell do not, however, form a uniform layer, but are arranged in such a manner as to leave pores or minute apertures through which the moisture of the egg can evaporate, and the external air gain entrance, to support the breathing of the unhatched chick. The particles of carbonate of lime are arranged in somewhat the same manner as the bricks are placed in a dome or arch. By this means enormous strength is given to the shell.

It may, perhaps, surprise many persons to be told that the strongest man cannot crush an egg in his hands. This experiment is easily tried by placing an egg end ways between the palms of the hands; it will

be found that the greatest exertion fails to crush it when it is fairly and evenly pressed from end to end.

The structure of the shell, however, which gives this great strength to the fabric, is entirely disarranged during the process of incubation. At the period of incubation the particles of carbonate of lime are confused together, and have lost all their regularity of arrangement; hence the eggshells at this time become very brittle, and the exit of the young bird is easily accomplished. So different is the arrangement of the particles in the shells of the hatched and unhatched eggs, that they can readily be distinguished by microscopic examination. It is this peculiar change of structure that causes the cracked sound given out on moving the eggs in a nest when they are nearly hatched.

Inside the shell is the membrane, or skin. This, which is formed of delicate interlaced fibres, appears single, but is in reality double. The two skins separate at the larger end of the egg, forming an airchamber, the size of which is a very good criterion of the freshness of the egg.

When the egg is first laid, this air-chamber is not larger in extent than a threepenny-piece; but the moisture evaporates through the pores of the shell, and, as the fluids diminish, air necessarily enters to supply their place; hence the air-chamber becomes larger and larger, so that, on breaking the large end of a stale egg, we sometimes see a cavity that seems to occupy a quarter of the shell.

Inside the skin or membrane is the substance known as the white of the egg. This is a thick glairy liquid, forming usually more than half of the entire weight. Most persons imagine that the thickness of the white is uniform throughout, but in reality it is of a peculiar structure, being arranged in layers like those constituting the coats of an onion : these layers, which become firmer and denser towards the centre, can be readily

seen and separated from one another in the white of a hard-boiled egg. The difficulty of mixing white-of-egg with water or other liquids is caused by the existence of these layers, which must be beaten up before the substance can be dissolved.

The remaining portion of the egg is known as the yolk, or yelk. This consists of albumen and water and a very large proportion of yellow oil, the whole being so intimately mixed as to be eminently digestible. The yolk, in fact, is designed by nature to form the first food of the chick at the period of hatching, and is one of the most nutritive of all known articles of food. It is inclosed in an exceedingly delicate membrane, which prevents its admixture with the white.

In breaking eggs into a basin, there may be observed a small circular speck or each yolk. This speck is the rudiment of the young chick, and the construction of the egg is such, that on whichever side it may be turned, the rudimentary germ is always uppermost, so as to receive the heat from the breast of the hen when she is sitting. The mechanism by which this is managed is very simple; the lower side of the yolk is weighted by two twisted heavy masses of very firm albumen, called the "chalayee,' which, hanging down, keep the germ constantly uppermost on whichever side the egg may be laid. Contrary to general belief, these ballasting-weights are found in all eggs, whether laid by pullets or old hens. It should not be imagined that the yolk is a mere unorganised liquid; it is composed, like the white, of concentric layers, which may be seen when the egg is boiled hard; and from the germ a tube runs to a central hollow cavity, that is also often to be noticed when an egg boiled hard for salad is cut across.-Dumfries Courier.

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