254 Part I11.—Twenty-third Annual Report 
which these grounds are situated. The statistics of the vessels in 1903, 
for which I am indebted to Professor D’Arcy Thompson, show the 
following, in ewts. per 100 lines used, for Square XX., in which the 
“ Reef ” lies :— 
Jan. | Feb. | Mar. | April.| May. | June.| July. | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. 
Cod, - - a oc 30 30°0 | 60°6 | 69°6 | 92°8 | 114°8 |161°1 |143°1 |109°6 
Codling, - : oc oe ac | 50 5°75 | 2°6 46 | 375] 5:24) 4°69) 6:2 
And the complete statistics for the various Squares in the North Sea, 
in which the vessels fished in the last five months of the year are 
these :— 
l 
XIII. | XVI.| XVII.| XVIII.| XX. |XXI.| XXII.) XXIIL| XXIV.) XXV.|XXVI|XXVIIL |XXIX. 
August, - - ae Ss a me ala Gh) ss Ue as ote Ae bs 63°7 Sa 08 
September, - 75 161°1 13°3 35 06 
October, - =a it Js Ae ae 143A) ce 42 31°9 50 FAD exe ee 39°5 
November, - Me ae 40°9 23°6 | 109°6 20:2) |) 63°5 44°6 
December, -! 833] .. | 69° 31°8 42°4 | 54 341 | 5471 
Square XXV., it may be said, lies to the south of XX., contiguous 
with it. 
Dr. Hjort, of the Norwegian Fishery Board, who visited the grounds 
in the ‘‘ Michael Sars,” the Norwegian investigation steamer, last 
August, has pointed out as an interesting fact that the temperature at 
the place where the spawning cod are found in autumn is the lowest 
for the year in the locality, while on the coastal banks, where the 
spawning takes place in spring, the temperature is also at the lowest 
during the spawning time. 
