MALACOPTERYGII SUBBRACHIATI. 509 



In the neighbourhood of the Isle of Man there is a variety 

 of the common cod named red cod, or rock cod, the skin of 

 which is of a brightish vermilion colour. The flesh of this 

 fish is much esteemed, and considered superior to the other. 



The Morrhua JEglefinus is the fish so well known to us 

 under the name of haddock. It has many characters in com- 

 mon with the preceding species, and like it, is found in the 

 vast Northern Ocean, where it voyages in large troops, which 

 cover an immense extent of surface. It does not pass the 

 Sound, for it has not yet been seen in the Baltic. It comes 

 annually, towards the months of February and March, to the 

 shores of Northern Europe, either to deposit or fecundate its 

 eggs ; and in stormy weather it seeks an asylum from the vio- 

 lence of the elements in the deepest parts of the ocean, on the 

 sand, or in the marine plants. 



During winter a certain number of haddocks remain near 

 the shores, where they find more easily than in the great 

 waters the nutriment which is suitable to them. Sometimes 

 they even choose this season to approach the coasts closely, 

 where they re-appear almost upon a stated day. From 1766 

 the fishermen of Yorkshire have remarked, that towards the 

 10th of December these fishes may be attacked with ad- 

 vantage. On the moment of their arrival they form a bank or 

 shoal three miles in breadth, reckoning from the coast, and 

 eighty miles in length from Flamborough Head to the mouth 

 of the Tyne, below Newcastle. Pennant confirms this state- 

 ment, and tells us, that on these occasions the haddocks are 

 so numerous that three fishermen, within the space of a mile, 

 may fill their boats twice a day. In autumn they are equally 

 plentiful on the shores of Holland and East Friezland, as well 

 as near Heligoland, whence they are transported to Ham- 

 burgh. 



When the surface of the sea is frozen near the shore, these 



