344 ' PEOSE HAIIETJTICS. 



bladder^ which kept the fish from rising, and so iajuring 

 their bodies against the top of the case.* 



The whole of the cod's carcase, like that of the stur- 

 geon, is prime meat ; the gills alone are not cooked, but 

 carefully collected for fiiture bait ; the tongue is con- 

 sidered on all hands a prime delicacy; the skin and 

 swim-bladder (or sounds), beside their place on the epi- 

 cure's plate, yield an isinglass extensively used by brew- 

 ers, and not inferior to that of the sturgeon itself; the 

 eggs and iatestiaes, under the names of ' nones et 

 rogues,' enjoy, in France, a reputation at least equal to 

 these last ; the bones, from which oil is extracted, feed 

 the Kamtchatka dog, and, mixed with marine plants, f 

 the Icelander's cattle ;{ lastly, the liver of the fish is not 

 only the finest of hepatic luxuries, but yields half its 

 volume in an oil on which we must pause to make a few 

 remarks. 



Though at first only generally known as a better sort 

 of lamp oil, and to curriers in particular, as communi- 

 cating more suppleness to leather than that of the whale, 

 it was even then valuable; its commercial importance 

 however has of late years greatly increased, owing to its 

 large employment in medicine. § 



* This practice, in consequence of tke far greater supplies of 

 cod obtained now than formerly, has no doubt been given up, 

 as it would, at the present low price paid for this species, scarcely 

 be remunerative. 



t 'Properly dried, they constitute the fuel of the desolate 

 steppes of the icy sea.' 



J This is a very ancient practice, in vogue amongst the ichthy- 

 ophagi in the days of Aman and Alexander, and of course long 

 before. 



§ The mode originally had recourse to for procuring this oil, 

 was to punch a hole in a tub, hne it well with spruce boughs, and 

 then place the livers upon the top to corrupt in the sun ; when 

 putrefaction had commenced, the oil began to run apace from 

 the putrilaginpus mass, and in less than a week the whole had 



