470 TilK BEUGYl.T. 



greater part of the Cotti do not breed until autumn or 

 winter." It would apjDear to be very prolific, Kroyer 

 having found no less than 3,000 eggs in one that was two 

 inches and a half in length, and these were of the size of 

 small shot. Its flesh is white and well-tasted. 



Two small Greenland species of the genus Aspklo- 

 phoms, the A. decoyoinis, Bloch, and the A. monopterygim, 

 Bloch, Swedish naturalists believe may not improbably be 

 found on the northern coast of Scandinavia, though up 

 to this time not identified. 



The Bergylt or Norway Haddock {Kungs-Fish, or, 

 king-fisli ; Hod-Fisk, or, red-fish, Sw. ; Z^er, Oiiger, Norw. ; 

 Sebastes Norcegicus, Cuv.), which fi'equents high latitudes, 

 is somewhat scarce in the Bohus Skargard and on the 

 western coast of Sweden, but on that of Norway it is 

 by all accounts tolerably common. It is said to attain 

 a length of three feet, and is seldom met with excepting 

 at a depth of from eighty to one hundred fathoms, where 

 the bottom is rocky. It is believed to go in large shoals. 

 But little is know n of its breeding and other habits. Its 

 flesh is white and firm, and is held in high estimation by 

 the inhabitants. 



Though the Bergylt lives habitually in very deep 

 water, it would appear lo be greatly affected by sudden 

 convulsions of nature, as after tempests these fish are 

 often met with in large numbers lying dead or dying on 

 the shore, or floating on the surface of the water, and for 

 the most part with their eyes started from the sockets and 

 their stomachs protruding through the mouth. A similar 

 effect is produced in them when drawn up rapidly by the 

 line from a great depth. This phenomenon, which has 

 puzzled many, is thus accounted for by the learned : — 

 " This fish," they say, " which usually lives at the depth 

 of 100 fathoms or more, is there constantly exjiosed to an 

 enormous pressure, for which its whole organization is 



