I C PI T II Y O L G Y. 



269 



canths. 



Classifica- on our coasts are off the Western and Shetland Isles, but 

 tion — Ana- they are still greater in more nortliern countries. The Cod 

 has been fished on the coast of Sweden since the year 1368 

 by the inhabitants of T^msterdam. The English resorted to 

 the fisheries of Iceland before the year 141o; and it is 

 stated that in the year 1 792, 200 French vessels, of a bur- 

 den of 191,153 tons, were employed in the Cod fishery. 

 Every year more than 6000 European vessels are engaged 

 in this fishery. 



The flesh of the Cod has a good flavour, and may be 

 easily preserved. The tong\ie, salted and dried, has been 

 considered a great delicacy. The gills are preserved and 

 used as bait. The liver is eaten, and of late years the oil 

 it yields has brought a high price owing to its importance 

 as a medicine. The swimming-bladder affords a very good 

 isinglass. This important species constitutes a principal 

 article of food to the inhabitants in some parts of Iceland, 

 Norway, and other northern countries. In a dried state 

 it is also much used in some papal kingdoms of the south. 

 In the neighbourhood of the Isle of Man, and elsewhere, 

 there is a variety of the Cod named the Red or Rock Cod, 

 the skin of which is of a brightish vermilion colour. Its 

 flesh is much esteemed. 



Morrhua aglefinus, the Haddock {TEgrefin, Fr. ; Scholl- 

 ^ic/(, Germ.), is as well known, and almost as important, as the 

 Cod in this country ; it is of a smaller size, usually eighteen 

 inches long. The back is brown, the belly silvery, and the 

 lateral line black. There is a blackish spot behind the 

 pectoral fin, which tradition assigns to the impression of St 

 Peter's finger and thumb, when he took the tribute money 

 out of the mouth of a fish, the inventors of the legend never 

 adverting to the improbability of a marine fish living in the 

 fresh-water lake of Gennesaret. The Haddock is found, 

 like the Ccd, in the Northern Ocean, but does not enter 

 the Baltic. It ann\ially approaches the British shores in 

 February and March, in order to deposit its spawn. The 

 regularity with which it reappears in some districts, on a 

 stated day, is quite remarkable. On the coast of York- 

 shire, since the year 1766, it has made its annual appear- 

 ance on the 10th of December. To this place it conies in 

 such numbers as to form an immense shoal 3 miles broad, 

 and extending 80 miles in length — from Flamborough Head 

 to the mouth of the Tyne. It is in autumn that they visit 

 the shores of Holland and East Friesland, and the neigh- 

 bourhood of Heligoland. The Haddock frequents our 

 coasts during the greater part of the year, although the 

 largest are taken in the winter. Its flesh is generally best 

 in the months of May and June, and is greatly superior on 

 the east coast of Scotland than when taken in the southern 

 parts of the English Channel. On the coast of Hampshire 

 it is a very inferior fish. 



Morrhua callarias, the Dorse, is smaller than the Had- 

 dock, resembles the Whiting in taste, and is by many con- 

 sidered to be the best fish for the table of all this family. 

 It is in great request on the coasts of the Baltic. It fre- 

 quents the mouths of large rivers, and ascends them with 

 the salt tide in June. The Morrhua lusca and barhata. 

 Bib and Whiting Pout, are considered by one so well ac- 

 quainted with the British fishes as Mr Yarrell, to be but one 

 species, and are well known on the English coast, being 

 brought in considerable quantities to the market. They are 

 in best condition for the table in November and December. 



Merlangiis vulgaris, Whiting (il/er/aw, Fr.), is valued on 

 account of its abundance, and the wholesomcness and fine 

 flavour of its flesh. Its fishery lasts the whole year, but is 

 most ])lentifnl in January and February, and is generally 

 carried on within a mile or two of the shore. Merlangus 

 carbonarius, Cole-fish (Koh/Jisch, Germ.) The flesh of 

 the young is rather delicate; that of the adult is somewhat 

 leathery, but it is used when salted and dried, like the Cod. 

 This is the Podlei/, Silloch, Cuddy, Sic, of our coasts. The 



young swarm along the British shores, and form a frequent C'lassifica- 

 s\istenance of the lower orders of the Western Highlands ''°" — ■^"*' 

 On one occasion we killed 33 dozen with the rod in a (e\v canths. 

 hours, using a line with 6 small flies. By giving the line ^"V""^ 

 one or two additional turns through the water, we frequently 

 pulled 6 ashore at once. It even constitutes an important 

 article of exportation from our northern coasts. In Norway 

 the poor feed upon it ; and oil is made from its liver. The 

 adult fish is taken principally in summer ; it deposits its 

 spawn in this coimtry in February and March. The Coal- 

 fish is found in the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans ; 

 and sometimes, though very rarely, in the Mediterranean 

 Sea, — for example, near Nice. Merlangus pollachius, the 

 Pollock or Pollack, about 18 inches long; resembles M, 

 carbonarius in its general form. Its flesh is considered 

 better than that of tlie Coal-fish, and inferior only to that 

 of the Dorse and Whiting; it inhabits the Atlantic, and 

 is gregarious. It is commonest on the coasts of Norway 

 and the north of England, and sometimes occurs in the 

 Mediterranean in winter. It is easily caught with a white fly. 



Of the Merluccius vulgaris, or Common Hake, great 

 numbers are taken in the ocean, and in the Mediterranean. 

 On the coasts of the Mediterranean it is called Merlan or 

 Whiting ; and, when dried, it receives in the north the 

 name of Stock-fish, in the same way as the Cod. It is said 

 to be very abundant in the Bay of Galway, on the west of 

 Ireland, and at Penzance in Cornwall. The flesh is white 

 and flaky, and its liver is considered a delicacy. 



The Brosmius vulgaris, Tusk, or Torsk, is common in 

 the Shetland seas, but seldom comes so far south as the 

 Firth of Forth. It is a most excellent fish for the table 

 when newly caught, being far superior to the Cod, but rarely 

 appears in the southern niarkets. It cures well. Molva, 

 or Lota tnolua, is the only fresh- water fish of this family 

 which exists in England, and is very local, being confined 

 to a few rivers mostly of the midland co\mties. It is named 

 the Burbot and Coney-fish, and its flesh is said to be good. 

 One, or perhaps two species frequent the northern waters of 

 the American continent, but their flesh, though wholesome, is 

 lightly esteemed in a country which aboimds in Coregoni and 

 Trout of the richest flavour. The roe, which is remarkable 

 for the smallness of its eggs, makes a substantial bread when 

 pounded and mixed with a proportion of flour. The Ame- 

 rican fish is named Methy, and furnishes names for many 

 rivers and lakes of that coimtry. It is voracious, and feeds 

 much on fresh-water Cray-fish. 



The Gadoid family is scarcely known near the equator, 

 but reappears again in the higher southern latitudes in the 

 same generic forms though differing in species, and doubt- 

 less fisheries of these useful fishes will hereafter be esta- 

 blished on the Australian coasts, when the submarine sand- 

 banks come to be known, and the increase of population 

 raises a greater demand for fish. The subjoined woodcut 

 represents the Lota breviuscula from the Bay of Islands, 

 New Zealand. 



Fig. 90. 

 Lota Orevittscula. 



Sub-Order II.— TIIORACICI. 

 Family I.— GADIDjE. 

 Body moderately elongated. Scales small, soft. 



Head naked. 



