56 COD. 



have been informed by an intelligent man who for several 

 years had been employed in the fishery on the banks of 

 Newfoundland, that such was not thought to be the case in 

 that part of the world; but that, when the fish there were 

 found to have their stomachs filled with crabs, although the 

 fish were numerous, large, and appeared to be well fed, it 

 was the usual practise for the ships to change their quarters in 

 search of others. 



The Cod sheds its roe in December and January, and as 

 the grains are increasing in size the fish is in the best con- 

 dition for the table; but its excellence has fallen back by the 

 time the roe is ready to be shed, and after spawning this fish 

 becomes emaciated and worthless. Indeed there is no fish, 

 except perhaps the Salmon, that offers so great a contrast to 

 itself from the time of its highest perfection to the worst, 

 which is presently after spawning, and from which it is not 

 speedily restored. 



The Cod is one of the most prolific of fishes, as may be 

 supposed when we call to mind the vast numbers which are 

 caught at the principal fishing stations through a long succession 

 of years, where one man in Newfoundland has caught five 

 hundred and fifty-two in a day, and upwards of fifteen thousand 

 in a voyage. Ten thousand Codfishes were reckoned a proper 

 yearly capture for a man. The fact is well borne out by an 

 examination of the multitude of grains of spawn which have 

 been counted in the mass of the ovaries. In a fish which 

 weighed twenty- one pounds, the roe weighed eleven pounds, 

 or more than half of the whole bulk; but in another which 

 weighed thirty pounds the roe weighed only four pounds and 

 a quarter; and yet in this last instance the following proportion 

 was fairly calculated. In repeated trials, two grains in weight 

 of this roe gave the number of ova four hundred and twenty- 

 three; so that, making a full allowance for the membrane 

 mingled with them, the number of living individuals which 

 might have been produced from this fish, in which the roe 

 was of less than usual proportionate weight, was little less 

 than seven millions. That very many of these eggs never 

 reach a useful size is highly probable, and yet it is to be 

 ^;emarkcd that a young Cod is more rarely found in the 

 stomach of other fishes than the generality of its fellow natives 

 of the deep. 



