190 MALACOP. SUB-BRACH. COD FAMILY. 



taken in pretty considerable quantities. It is not 

 rare in Scotland, and such likewise seems to be the 

 case with Ireland. It is frequent in Greenland, 

 where, according to Fabricius, it deposits its red- 

 dish-yellow spawn among the fuci of the smaller 

 bays, even under the ice, in February or Maren 

 The male and female, he adds, are supposed fre- 

 quently to keep each other company under the same 

 stone. The ova are used as food by the Green- 

 landers. " The Brassy," says Dr. Parnell, " is taken 

 in the Firth of Forth, principally near the Isle of 

 May, with long lines set for Cod and baited with 

 mussels. It is seldom found as high up the Firth 

 as Inchcolm, but when taken beyond that point, it 

 is generally thin and ill-flavoured, not meeting with 

 that abundance and variety of food which it finds 

 in deeper and more rocky situations." '• 



(Sp. 151.) M. minuta. Poor, or Power Cod. 

 The general appearance of this fish is similar to the 

 last, but it is by no means so ventricose, and is at 

 once distinguished by its inferior size, which never 

 exceeds seven or eight inches, and the position of 

 the first dorsal, the hinder extremity of wdiich is in 

 advance of the first anal fin. The name probably 

 refers to the smallness of its size, which renders its 

 capture of little value to fishermen ; it can have no 

 reference to the qualities of its flesh, which is as 

 good as that of most of its congeners. It is princi- 

 pally employed as a bait for larger fish, although it 

 occasionally appears in the markets along with the 

 * Mem. Wern, Trans., vii, 342. 



