THE COD. 



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alight on a spot hitherto untouched, where, to use the graphic description of a sailor, 

 the Cod are " as big as donkeys, and as common as blackberries." 



Rockall is one of the latest discoveries of this nature. It is a sandbank in the North 

 Atlantic, about 136 miles from St. Kilda, and only distinguishable by a small rock like 

 a rude haystack. The Cod are there so plentiful and so large that each fishing-boat 

 sold her five days' catch for ,140 ; and after due preparation, the fish were disposed 

 of at nearly double that price. 



A great part of the estimation in which this fish is held depends upon the perfect 

 manner in which it takes salt and the length of time during which it can be preserved 

 in an eatable state. Salted Cod is to many persons a great dainty, but to others, among 

 whom I must be reckoned, is insufferably offensive, and even with all the additions of 

 sauce and condiment is barely eatable. 



COD. Qadus morrhua. 



The Cod is sometimes sent away in a fresh state, but is often split and salted on the 

 spot, packed in flats on board, and afterwards washed and dried on the rocks. In this 

 state it is called Klip-fish or Rock-fish. The liver produces a most valuable oil, which 

 is now in great favor for the purpose of affording strength to persons afflicted with 

 delicate lungs or who show symptoms of decline. The best oil is that which drains 

 naturally from the livers as they are thrown into a vessel which is placed in a pan 

 filled with boiling water. The oil is then carefully strained through flannel, and is 

 ready for sale. 



The roe of the Cod is useful for bait, the sardine in particular being very partial to 

 that substance. Much of the roe is stupidly wasted by the fisherman, who carelessly 

 flings into the sea a commodity of which he can sell any amount, and for which he can 

 obtain ten or eleven shillings per hundredweight. In Norway the dried heads of the 

 Cod are used as fodder for cows, and, strange to say, the graminivorous quadrupeds 

 are very fond of this aliment 



Like several other marine fish, the Cod can be kept in a pond, provided the water 

 be salt ; and if the pond should communicate with the sea, these fishes can be readily 

 flattened for the table. Several such ponds are in existence, and it is the custom to 

 transfer to them the liveliest specimens that have been caught during the day's fishery, 



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