THE LING. 189 



As the oil of this fpecies can only be obtained while 

 the animal is in feafon, fo it can be extra£ted from the 

 liver only by a flow fire ; if a violent heat be applied in 

 nieliing it, a very fmall quantity will be had from the 

 flih, even in its greateft perfeftion. Such fifii as are cu- 

 red for exportation, mufl: meafure a certain length from 

 the flioulder to the tail, otherwife they are not entitled 

 to the bounty which parliament has granted for the en- 

 couragement of this tiade ; twenty-fix inches is the length 

 of a fizeable fifti ; thofe of inferior dimenfions are called 

 drizzles, and becaufe incapable of procreation, they 

 continue in feafon during the whole fummer *. 



There is a frefh water fifli thatfomewhat refemblesthe 

 ling, called the burbot, or eel-pout f: it abounds in the 

 lake of Geneva^ where it is called lota, and is found alfo 

 in feveral of the rivers in the north of England. The 

 body is fmooth, foft, and lubricated like that of the eel; 

 the number and difpofition of fins, refembles that of the 

 ling : The feafon of generation in this fpecies is Decem- 

 ber ; at which period, though the body is fmall, one hun- 

 dred and twenty-eight thoufand ova have been taken 

 from a fingle female, each of which is capable of becom- 

 ing a fi£h, after fecundation by the male. 



Prk. Zool. ubi fupra, * Will. p. 1 25, 



