THE COD. 1 81 



over it : The bait ufed is herring, a fmall filh called ca- 

 pelin, a fhell fiih, and bits of fea fowl. The natural food 

 of the cod is ij-nall fifh, teftaceous aninnals, fuch as crabs 

 and whelks ; and their digeftive powers are fo flrong, that 

 they dtffolve every fubftance which a voracity almoll in- 

 difcriminate, leaas them to devour. Their light is pro- 

 bably very imperfe6l ; for almoll every fmall body that 

 is agitated by the water, attracts their rapacity, ftones 

 and pebbles not excepted, for thefe are often found ia 

 their llomachs. 



The founds of the cod fiili, are reckoned a great deli- 

 cacy, and frequently brought front Newfoundland, faked 

 up by their.felves : They are employed by the fifhermen 

 of Iceland, in making ilinglafs ; are obtained, by care- 

 fully feparating them from the back-bone, to which they 

 adhere after the fi(h is cut up *. 



The general weight of the cod fifli on the Brltijh coafts 

 is from fourteen to forty pounds ; fome have indeed been 

 caught near eighty, but thofe of the middle fize are rao-ft 

 efteemed for the table. Their time of fpawning is frorri 

 January to April, when they depolit their eggs in rough, 

 rocky gi^ound. After having been exonerated of a load 

 containing frequently three millions of young, the parent 

 recovers its plumpnefs fooner than almoft any other fifh j 

 and is caught in good condition, during almoll the xvhole 

 fummer. 



Schofifeldt remarks a kind appointment of providence 

 in the immenfe fecundity of this filh, and in that abun- 

 dant fupply which it affords to the inhabitants of thofe 



bleak 



* Phil. Trwf. 1773. t FIJ: Schon. apud Willough. pape 166, 



