Though, in general, a coarse food, the parts which are near the side fins are fat and delicious, but too rich for any one to eat much of them. The inhabitants of Greenland eat of these fish both fresh and dried. They also eat the _skin_ and the _liver_; and the _membrane of the stomach_ serves instead of glass for windows. The Swedes and Icelanders make of holibut a food called _raff_ and _roechel_; the former consisting of the fins with the fat skin to which they are attached; and the latter of pieces of the flesh cut into stripes, salted, and dried on sticks in the air. Holibuts are also salted in the same manner as herrings, which is said to be the best mode of curing them; but, in this state, they are coarse and bad eating. 217. _The PLAISE_ (Pleuronectes platessa) _is a kind of flat fish easily known by a row of six bony protuberances behind the left eye, and its upper side being marbled with olive and brown, and marked with orange spots_. _Though usually of small size, this fish sometimes grows to the weight of twelve or fourteen pounds, and is found on the shores of almost all the countries of Europe._ The best and largest plaise are said to be caught on some parts of the coast of Sussex. They are in greatest perfection from December to March, and in July, August and September. Those that are of tolerably large size are firm and well-flavoured, but the small and thin fish become gluey by boiling. The flesh of the former is bluish, and of the latter reddish white. Plaise are generally caught with nets called seine nets, which are hauled upon the shores. In some countries these fish are salted and dried as articles of commerce; and in others the best of them are skinned, dried, and pressed into particular forms, and, when eaten, are cut like cheese. 218. _The DAB_ (Pleuronectes limanda) _is a species of flat fish, of yellowish brown colour, with the eyes on the right side of the body, the scales hard and toothed, and the lateral line, at its commencement, curved round the pectoral fin._ _It is in general much smaller than the plaise._ Although very common on the shores of the Baltic and Mediterranean seas, the dab is much more scarce on the British shores than the plaise. When in best season, during the months of February, March, and April, it is considered preferable to that fish. In the summer-time its flesh is soft and of bad flavour. The Dutch and Scots fishermen sometimes salt and dry these fish. 219. _The BRILL is a flat fish somewhat like the turbot (222), but with its eyes on the right side of the body, the whole surface of the body smooth, and a laceration at the beginning of the dorsal fin._