Indirect Benefitsi 



153 



with success. Many boat-loads of a river muscle (U^iio mar- 

 garitifera Turton) are taken from the mouth of the Ythen, a 

 river not far from Aberdeen, and employed in the fisheries of 

 cod and ling established near Peterhead. The clam (Pecten 

 opercularis) and the great muscle (Modiola vulgaris) are re- 

 sorted to in other parts of the kingdom, and are eagerly 

 sought after as a bait for cod ; and you are aware that ipany 

 thousands of limpets (Patella vulgaris) and of the common 

 muscle (ik/ytilus edulis) are daily torn from the rocks, to en- 

 snare the common fishes of our coasts, and thus contribute 

 materially to add one more luxury to the tables of the rich, 

 and to give to the poor a cheap and wholesome diet. The 

 large whelk (i5uccinum undatum) and a species of rock-shell 

 (Miirex despectus Mont.) may likewise be enumerated among 

 our ordinary baits; but the most valuable of the class is cer- 

 tainly the Zoligo vulgaris {Jig. 41.), or, as it is called by our 

 fishermen, the sleeve or hoe-fish. 

 With this animal one half of all the 

 cod taken at Newfoundland is caught. 

 It appears there in throngs about the 

 beginning of August, and seems to 

 succeed to the capelin (the fish with 

 which the other half is taken), as if 

 to supply, immediately, provision to 

 the cod, the traffic in which " brings 

 wealth to individuals and strength to 

 the state." It begins to retire from 

 the coast in September. " During 

 violent gales of winds, hundreds of 

 tons of them are often thrown up to- 

 gether in beds on the flat beaches, 

 the decay of which spreads an in^ 

 tolerable effluvium around. It is 

 made no use of except for bait ; and 

 as it maintains itself in deeper water 

 than the capelin, instead of nets being used to take it, it is 

 jigged, — a jigger being a number of hooks radiating from a 

 fixed centre, made for the purpose. The cod is in best con- 

 dition after having fed on it." * 



* Edin. New Phil. Jour. No. i. p. 37. The editor remarks : " The 

 cuttle-fish occurs in abundance in many of our estuaries and coasts, but has 

 hitherto been considered as of no value. Now that it is known to form an 

 excellent bait for cod, and even for other fishing, it is not to be doubted 

 that it will in future, in this country, be used with equal advantage and 

 profit as a bait for the capture of our cod, ling, &c." 



Vol. II. — No. 7. m 



