238 COMMON COD FISH. Class IV. 



are thin tailed and lousy, and the lice chiefly 

 fix themselves on the inside of their mouths. 



Fish of a middling size are most esteemed for 

 the table, and are chosen by their plumpness 

 and roundness, especially near the tail, by the 

 depth of the sulcus or pit behind the head, and 

 by the regular undulated appearance of the sides, 

 as if they were ribbed. The glutinous parts 

 about the head lose their delicate flavor after it 

 has been twenty-four hours out of the water, 

 even in winter, in which these and other fish of 

 this genus are in highest season. 

 Size. The largest we ever heard of on our coasts, 



weighed seventy-eight pounds, the length was 

 five feet eight inches ; and the girth round the 

 shoulders five feet ; it was taken at Scarborough 

 in 1755, and was sold for one shilling. But the 

 general weight of these fish in the Yorkshire 

 seas, is from fourteen to forty pounds. 

 Descrip- This species is short in proportion to its 

 bulk, the belly being very large and prominent. 

 The jaws are of an equal length, at the end of 

 the lower is a small beard ; the teeth are dis- 

 posed in the palate as well as the jaws ; the 

 eyes are large. On the back are three soft fins ; 

 the first has fourteen, the two last nineteen 

 rays each ; the ventral fins are very slender, 

 and consist but of six rays ; the two first extend- 



TION. 



