148 GADID^. 



mucli injured are placed in the reservoir ; the others are cut 

 in pieces for food for the prisoners. The whelks, limpets, 

 and other testacea, are boiled to free them from the shells ; 

 and no sooner does the keeper or his son appear with the 

 well-known basket of prepared food, than a hundred mouths 

 are simultaneously opened to greet the arrival. The Cod- 

 fish are the most numerous in this preserve ; one of which 

 has lived twelve years in confinement, and attained a large 

 size. 



In a natural state the Cod spawns about February ; and 

 nine millions of ova have been found in the roe of one fe- 

 male. The Cod is in the greatest perfection as food from 

 the end of October to Christmas. It may, in fact, be said 

 of the whole of the family of Gadidee^ that they are in the 

 best condition for the table during the cold months of the 

 year. The young of the Cod, about six inches long, abound 

 at the mouth of the Thames and Medway throughout the 

 summer : as autumn advances, they gain size and strength, 

 and are caught from twelve to sixteen inches in length by 

 lines near the various sandbanks in the Channel. When of 

 Whiting size, they are called Codlings and Skinners ; and 

 wheij larger, Tamlin Cod. 



On the coast of Durham and Northumberland, and at the 

 Isle of Man, the Cod acquire a dark red or reddish brown 

 colour ; and are called Red Cod, Ware Cod, and Red Ware 

 Cod, when of this particular colour. I saw a considerable 

 quantity in this state in Berwick market, and have had 

 others sent to me by Dr. Johnston. Both the varieties of 

 our Common Cod — for there appears to be two well-marked 

 varieties — were equally red. This colour is considered to 

 be the consequence of particular food obtained in certain 

 localities. At a short distance only from the situations 

 named, the Codfish are of the usual ash-green colour. 



