THE SWORD-FISH. 357 



another plank also of two inches. " The position of the bone 

 was at the distance of four feet horizontally from the stern, and 

 two feet below the surface of the water when the vessel was 

 afloat. Hence, it appeared, that when the ship had been in 

 rapid progress through the water, she had been met with and 

 struck by a sword-fish advancing in an opposite direction, by 

 the shock of which, or by the action of the water forced past 

 the body of the animal by the vessel's progress, the snout had 

 been broken off and detached. The blow, though it must 

 have been singularly forcible, was not observed by any person 

 in the ship. Had the bone been withdrawn, the vessel would 

 probably have foundered." Mr. Wood says in one instance, a 

 sword-fish attacking a whaling-ship, drove its weapon " through 

 the copper sheathing, an inchboard sheathing, a three-inch 

 plank of hard wood, the solid white oak timber of the ship 

 twelve inches thick, through another two-and-a-half inch hard 

 oak ceiling plank, and lastly, perforated the head of an oil- 

 cask, where it still remained immovably fixed, so that not a 

 single drop of oil escaped." 



The Cod. The third order of Dr. Gunther's classification 

 includes many of the more familiar fishes. Here we find the 

 Cod, the Haddock, the Place, the Flounder, the Halibut, the 

 Turbot, the Brill and the Sole. Of these we will take the Cod 

 as representative. The Cod is one of the most prolific of fish. 

 Enormous quantities are caught and consumed every year and 

 yet the number seems to increase rather than decrease. This 

 is accounted for by the fact, that the spawn of one fish will 

 sometimes contain nine millions of eggs. The Cod frequents 

 the deep seas of the temperate and colder climes, not being 

 found in any quantities north of Iceland, or South of Gibraltar. 

 They are found chiefly in the Northern Atlantic, where exten- 

 sive fisheries are carried on, but they are also caught in the 

 Forth of Firth at the mouth of which some of the best are 

 taken. The Cod grows very rapidly and often to a great size. 

 One is said to have been caught off Scarborough many years 



