GREAT BRITAIN. 153 



caught once or twice, but he concluded that it could 

 scarcely bear the rough gusts of the winter seas, being a 

 delicate fish. When haddock are caught in any quantities, 

 whiting are taken in numbers. Orkney and Zetland not 

 common ; at Banff often captured, but not so good as the 

 haddock ; frequent at St. Andrew's ; Firth of Forth, plenti- 

 ful ; resident and very abundant off Yorkshire ; plentiful 

 in the Norfolk estuary, especially in the autumn, but those 

 the Norfolk coast only attain to about two-thirds the 

 ize of those off Devonshire ; common along the south 

 >ast of England, and very abundant off Devonshire and 

 Cornwall, especially in the latter county, from September 

 itil March, the largest and best coming from Polperro. 

 In Ireland it is common around the coast, but not held 

 much estimation in the north. It is considered in its 

 inest season in the spring. 



This fish has been recorded off the British coasts up to 

 inches in length, and from 3 to 4 Ibs. in weight, but 

 Couch mentions his having heard of one weighing 7 Ibs., 

 while Pennant records a fish from 4 Ibs. to 8 Ibs. weight, 

 taken from the edge of the Dogger Bank. 



Lower jaw the longer ; teeth in upper jaw of equal size. 



b. A barbel below chin. 

 5. Coal-fish (Gadus virens). 



Names. Coal-fish, so termed from its occasional black 

 colour, it being called cole-fish by Ray, col signifying char- 

 coal, not due to its producing isinglass or ichthyocolla, as 

 believed by Belonius, from its English name of colfisch. 

 Another derivation of the term cole-fish has been found in 

 the corruption of the French name "colin." Sillocks, 



