THE LING. 521 



since then their numbers have been on the decrease. 

 " This fluctuation," says Professor Sundevall, " much re- 

 sembles the so-called periodical visits of the herrings, and 

 not improbably arises from similar causes. The Hake has 

 but few spawning-places;probably only one, in the Cattegat; 

 and it may be that, like many other species of fish, it 

 is wedded to the spot to which it is accustomed. But 

 when molested during its Lek (and in consequence of 

 its great voracity, it is easily captured, either before or 

 after spawning), it may readily happen that a sufficient 

 number of adults do not remain, in which case the fish 

 will naturally become scarce, until such times as the 

 fishermen having abandoned the place of capture as being 

 no longer productive, a new generation supplies the place 

 of those destroyed." 



The Ling (Langa, Sw. ; Lanye, Norw. and Danish ; 

 Lota Molva, Cuv. ; Molva mdgaris, Nilss.), whose proper 

 home is supposed to be in the Atlantic and North Sea, is 

 common in the Bohus Skargiird and Cattegat, as also on 

 the western coasts of both Denmark and Norway, up to 

 and beyond the North Cape. But it is somewhat rare 

 in the Sound (Kroyer, indeed, has never heard of it either 

 there or in the Belts), from whence only very small 

 specimens have been obtained. In the Baltic it is 

 altogether unknown. Its usual length is from three to 



o O 



four feet, but it attains five or six, and a weight of 

 sixty pounds. The adult fish confine themselves almost 

 altogether to the open sea, where they are captured at a 

 depth of from 100 to 400 fathoms, but the younger hold 

 nearer the shore. Some imagine that the Ling, as with 

 the Cod, keep in large shoals, but Ekstroni and Kroyer 

 say, that with the exception, perhaps, of the spawning 

 season, these fish live much spread. It is reported to be 

 most voracious, very large fishes, chiefly flat-fishes and cod, 

 being often found in its stomach. Its breeding habits are 



