166 THE COMMERCIAL SEA FISHES OF 



of ova being upwards of a million and a half (Dunn). In 

 the report of the sea fisheries of England and Wales for 

 1879, it is observed that at Mevagissey these fish have been 

 falling off in numbers for the last fifteen years, due, it was 

 surmised, to Plymouth trawlers catching hundreds of 

 thousands of baby hakes, a foot or so long. 



Uses. Formerly they used to be salted in large quanti- 

 ties and exported, especially to Bilboa, in Spain. In this 

 country salted hake used to be known as "Poor John." 

 Even now they are extensively salted by fishermen, es- 

 pecially for their own consumption. They are more 

 appreciated at present than formerly, as, due to the great 

 price of fish, they are being forced into the market. Cor- 

 nish observed, in 1878, that twenty years since a burn or 

 "burden for one person" of twenty-one fish, obtained 

 $s. 6d.j a high wholesale price in West Cornwall. Now 

 the price is 15^. to 2Os. a burn, and the retail is. to is. 6d. 

 each fish. 



As food. It is coarse, but at Plymouth all these slimy 

 fishes, according to Yarrell, have the mucus first removed 

 with hot water and a little alkali, otherwise they are 

 spoiled. It may be cut into steaks and fried, or cooked in 

 pies. 



Habitat. From the northern seas along the coast of 

 Scandinavia, the German Ocean, and European shores of 

 the Atlantic to Madeira, while it is also distributed through 

 the Mediterranean, especially along its northern shores, 

 and into the Adriatic. It is common in Greenland, but 

 whether it is the same species which extends to Cape 

 Hatteras appears doubtful, as in the American Fishery 

 Reports it is recorded as M. bilinearis (Gill). 



It is found around the British coasts, being much more 

 numerous in some localities than in others. It is generally 



