254 Cods and Haddocks. [CHAP. XIV. 
scription (except Homarus vulgaris, which I have never yet 
found), from the prickly stone crab (Lithodes maia) up to 
the hard parten (Cancer pagurus), and the larger the better. 
Shells of every sort, particularly Fusus antiguus and Buc- 
cinium undulatum ; no matter whether inhabited by their 
original possessor, or by a hermit in the form of a pagurus, 
it is no obstacle to the voracious cod. Shrimps, fish-lice, sea- 
mice (Aphrodita aculeata), sea-urchins, with now and then a 
star-fish ; ‘dead men’s paps,’ as they are called here (Alcyo- 
nium), and actinias—no matter what they may be attached 
to, whether a shell or a stone,* provided these are not them- 
selves fixtures—all are gulped by this most unceremonious 
fish. The eggs, capsules, or purses of the dogfish (Scylli- 
um) and the skate, with the roe and the ova of other spe- 
cies, particularly when deposited on sea-weed; the alge 
and the zoophytes also walk down the cod’s gullet, so that 
nothing may be lost. As for the Holothuride, or sea-cu- 
cumbers, few, if any, of them escape. Now and then frag- 
ments of the medusee are swallowed; feathers, with the re- 
mains of sea-fowl; and, on one occasion, the skeleton of 
a partridge, with the wings, feet, legs, and head adhering. 
Pieces of pewter and of cloth occasionally; and once a 
cluster of beech-nuts, with part of a domestic fowl. As for 
fish !—why, the fish does not swim that the cod, when hun- 
gry, will not attack, and, if successful, swallow. In short, 
nothing seems to come amiss. But this outline of the 
cod’s bill of fare does not include all that the animal preys 
upon and devours. It is enough, however, to show its ep- 
icurean propensities. The cod is extensively fished for 
along this part of the coast, and may be termed the poor 
man’s salmon. Great numbers are salted and dried, and in 
that state are sent to the Southern markets. The haddock, 
* “Tt is only about nine months since I took from the stomach of a 
cod a stone which weighed above three pounds, to which the remains 
of an actinia were still attached,” 
