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THE COD-FISH, (Gadus morrhuaj 



Is a noble inhabitant of the seas ; not only on account of 

 its size, but also for the goodness of its flesh, either fresh 

 or salted. The body measures sometimes above three, 

 and even four feet in length, with a proportionable thick- 

 ness. The back is of a brown olive colour, with white 

 spots on the sides, and the lower part of the body is en- 

 tirely white. The eyes are large and staring. The head 

 is broad and fleshy, and esteemed a delicious dish. 



The fecundity of all fishes must be an object of the 

 greatest astonishment to every observer of nature. In 

 the year 1790, a Cod-fish was sold in Workington market, 

 Cumberland, for one shilling : it weighed fifteen pounds, 

 and measured two feet nine inches in length, and seven 

 inches in breadth ; the roe weighed two pounds ten 

 ounces, one grain of which contained three hundred and 

 twenty eggs. The whole, therefore, might contain, by 

 fair estimation, three million nine hundred and four 

 thousand four hundred and forty eggs. From such a 

 trifle as this we may observe the prodigious value of the 

 fishing trade to a commercial nation, and hence draw a 

 useful hint for increasing it ; for, supposing that each of 

 the above eggs should arrive at the same perfection and 

 size, its produce would weigh twenty-six thousand one 

 hundred and twenty-three tons ; and consequently would 

 load two hundred and sixty-one sail of ships, each of 

 one hundred tons burden. If each fish were brought 

 to market, and sold as the original one, for one shilling, 

 the produce then would be one hundred and ninety-five 

 thousand pounds; that is to say, the first shilling would 

 produce twenty times one hundred and ninety-five thou- 

 sand, or three million nine hundred thousand shillings. 



In the European seas, the Cod begins to spawn in 



