GADID.E. 



and no sooner does the keeper or his son appear with the 

 well-known basket of prepared food, than a hundred months 

 are sirnultaneonsly opened to greet the arrival. The Cod- 

 fish are the most numerous in this preserve ; one of which 

 has lived twelve years in confinement, and attained a large 

 size. 



Dr. Parnell mentions that Cod are observed to thrive 



better while under confinement than most of the species of 



the same family, and in some instances they are found im- 



proved by the change. Elias Cathcart, Esq. of St. Marga- 



ret's, near North Queensferry, has kept for some time a 



number of marine fishes in a salt-water pond of about two 



hundred feet in length, and five fathoms deep, in which the 



tide flows and ebbs twice in the day. The principal fishes 



preserved are Cod, Haddock, Whiting, Flounders., and 



Skate, which are retained prisoners by means of an iron 



grating, placed at that part of the pond which communicates 



with the Frith. They are fed by the keeper with sprats, 



young herrings, and other small fishes, besides, occasionally, 



with the intestines of sheep, which the Cod are observed to 



devour with avidity. All the fish appear to thrive well, 



especially the Cod, which are found to be firmer in the flesh 



and thicker across the shoulders than those obtained from the 



Frith of Forth, whence the Edinburgh market is supplied. 



The Cod is abundant in the Orkney and other Scottish 



Islands. 



In a natural state the Cod spawns about February ; and 

 nine millions of ova have been found in the roe of one fe- 

 male. The Cod is in the greatest perfection as food from 

 the end of October to Christmas. It may, in fact, be said 

 of the whole of the family of Gadidtc, that they are in the 

 best condition for the table during the cold months of the 

 year. The young of the Cod, about six inches long, abound 



