Class IV. TORSK COD FISH. 271 



the nose, and extended almost to the tail ; the 

 pectoral fins were small, and rounded ; the ven- 

 tral short, thick, and fleshy, ending in four cirri. 

 The belly from the throat very prominent; the 

 anal fin was long, and reached almost close to 

 the tail, which is small and circular ; the num- 

 ber of rays could not be counted with accuracy 

 by reason of their softness, and the thickness of 

 the skin ; the side line was scarcely discernible. 

 The color of the head was dusky ; the back and 

 sides yellow ; the belly white ; the edges of the 

 dorsal, anal, and caudal fins, white ; the other 

 parts dusky ; the pectoral fins brown. 



I flatter myself, that in a small time, the 

 public will receive from Mr. Low, a fuller 

 account of this important fish, in a compre- 

 hensive history of the islands of Orkney and 

 Shetland* 



* This wish has been frustrated, but subsequent accounts of 

 the Orkney and Shetland isles have been given by Mr. Neill, the 

 reverend George Barry, and by Doctor Edmonston. These gen- 

 tlemen inform us, that the Torsk, or more properly Tusk (the 

 former appellation being given to the common Cod fish), is 

 shaped something like the ling, but is much shorter and thicker 

 in proportion to its length ; it also resembles that fish in its ha- 

 bits, but is not so gregarious. It has occasionally been met with 

 in the Edinburgh markets, but is a complete northern fish, and 

 observed more frequently on the coasts of the Shetland than of 

 the Orkney isles. En. 



