'A N C O N A resembles a sprat in having a forked tail and a single dorsal fin, but the body is round and slender. The maximum length is 8^ inches. Anchovies are abundant in the Mediterranean, and are regularly caught on the coasts of Sicily, Italy, France, and Spain. The range of the species also extends along the Atlantic coast of Europe to the south of Norway. In winter it is common off Devon and Cornwall, but has not hitherto been caught in such numbers as to be of commercial importance. Off the coast of Holland in summer it is more plentiful, entering the Zuyder Zee in such numbers as to give rise to a regular and valuable fishery. It is also taken in the estuary of the Scheldt. There is reason to believe that the anchovies found at the western end of the English Channel in November and December are those which annually migrate from the Zuyder Zee and Scheldt in autumn, returning thither in the following spring; they must be held to form an isolated stock, for none come up from the south in summer to occupy the English Channel, though the species is resident on the coast of Portugal. The explanation appears to be that the shallow and land-locked waters of the Zuyder Zee, as well as the sea on the Dutch coast, become raised to a higher temperature in summer than any part of the sea about the British coasts, and that therefore anchovies are able to spawn and maintain their numbers in these waters. Their reproduction and development were first described by a Dutch naturalist from observations made on the shores of the Zuyder Zee. Spawning takes place in June and July, and the eggs, like those of the majority of marine fishes, are buoyant and transparent, but they are peculiar in having an elongated, sausage-like shape, instead of being globular. They resemble those of the sprat and pilchard in having a segmented yolk, and there is no oil globule. The larva is hatched two or three days after the fertilization of the egg, and is very minute and transparent; its further development has not been traced. In August young specimens 1-^ to 3J inches in length have been taken in the Zuyder Zee, and these must be held to have been derived from the spawning of the previous summer. There is no evidence to decide the question whether all the young anchovies as well as the adults leave the Zuyder Zee in autumn, but, considering the winter temperature there, it is probable that they do. The eggs have also been obtained from the Bay of Naples, and near Marseilles, also off the coast of Holland, and once at least off the coast of Lancashire. The occurrence of anchovies in the English Channel has been carefully studied at the laboratory of the Marine Biological Association at Plymouth. They were most abundant in 1889 and 1890. In the former year considerable numbers were taken off Dover in drift nets of small mesh, used for the capture of sprats. In the following December large numbers were taken together with sprats at Torquay. In November 1890 a thousand of the fish were obtained in two days from the pilchard boats fishing near Plymouth; these were caught near the Eddystone. When taken in British waters anchovies are either thrown away, or sent to the market fresh with the sprats. If salted in the proper way, they would doubtless be in all respects equal to Dutch anchovies, if not to those imported from Italy. The supply, however, is small and inconstant, and for this reason English fish-curers have not learnt the proper way of preparing them. The so-called “ Norwegian anchovies ” imported into England in little wooden kegs are nothing but sprats pickled in brine with bay-leaves and whole pepper. (J- T- c-)
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Umbria; on the S. by the Province of Macerata; and on the E. by the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of 788 square miles and a population of (1901) 302,460. Owing largely to the mezzadria or metayer system, under which products are equally divided between the owners and the cultivators of the land, the soil is highly cultivated; and through the abundant harvests the people enjoy greater prosperity than in most of the other provinces. Fowls are largely exported to England. The silk cultivation provides occupation for the urban population, and several small cities, like Opino, Jesi, and Chiaravalle, depend almost entirely upon this industry. Another important branch of activity is the paper industry. Chiaravalle possesses one of the largest tobacco factories of the Italian Regie. Limestone quarries and sulphur mines supply building stone and sulphur to the regions of Central Italy. The Adriatic shore and the adjacent districts provide the wealthy with favourite summer resorts. As regards maritime trade the province possesses facilities in the port of Ancona, the canal port of Sinigaglia, and other smaller harbours chiefly used by fishing boats. Fishing is carried on by the entire coast population, which furnishes a large contingent of sailors to the Italian navy. The character of the country population is quiet and peaceable. All are fervent Boman Catholics.
Ancona, an Italian city, capital of the province of the same name, pleasantly situated upon the Adriatic about 124 miles from Bologna and more than 186 miles from Borne. The extensive works undertaken by the Italian Government in order to enlarge the fortifications and to purify some quarters of the city have considerably changed its aspect, which is now rendered more pleasing by wide streets and esplanades. The Gothic facade of the cathedral is among the most beautiful in Italy. There is a lazzaretto begun by Pope Clement XII. and finished by Pius VI., to whom is also due the finest street of the city and an arch (Porta Pia), by Vanvitelli. The chief monuments are those to Clement XII. and to Cavour. The municipal palace dates from 1270, and contains a valuable picture gallery and library. The Merchants’ Guild and the Theatre of the Muses display exquisite workmanship. Several large bathing establishments, thoroughly modernized, are thronged by visitors in the summer months. The smaller triumphal arch erected near to that in honour of Trajan is dedicated to Pope Clement XIV., who reconstructed and enlarged the harbour and declared Ancona a free port (it is so no longer) in the 18th century. Its two moles and dredging works confer upon the port (which is furnished with a powerful lighthouse) great security and a considerable anchorage. There is an arsenal and a dockyard. Numbers of mercantile steamships are constructed, and important commissions are executed for the Italian navy every year. Trade has now regained its former volume, and the receipts of the Customs House are but little inferior to those of Venice. In 1898 commerce comprised 235,000 tons of seaborne and 32,000 tons of land imports; 48,000 tons of exports by sea and 23,000 tons by land ; steamers visiting the port, 599 (of which 60 were British) ; sailing vessels, 468. Ancona is in direct steamship communication with the chief European countries, as well as with Asia Minor, Tunis, India, and South America. The chief manufactures are metallurgy (the arsenal alone employs 2000 workmen), sugar refining (1000 workmen), compressed coal, soapmaking, tanning, and silk-spinning. Though the great majority of the people belong to the monarchical party, Ancona is conAncona, one of the sixty-nine provinces of the sidered the headquarters of anarchism. According to Pliny, kingdom of Italy, bounded on the N. by the Province Ancona was founded by the Dorians about 1500 B.c. of Pesaro-Urbino; on the W. by Pesaro-Urbino and Population (1901), 56,825.
