208 GADITES. 



iarly known. The variations of color and size 

 depends on the age of the individual, and the qual- 

 ity imparted to the water by the character of the 

 bottom on which they feed. 



Frost fish, Gadus Luscus, of New Hampshire, 

 and the G. tomcodus pluinosus of NewYork, present 

 no external characteristic differences. In fact, these 

 too, we conceive are imaginary varieties, assuming 

 perhaps, a more chubby appearance, and a darker 

 skin in the winter than in the summer. They are de- 

 nominated frost-fish, simply because they are taken 

 in scoop-nets through the ice, in places only where 

 the tide rises very high ; hence, the farther we 

 go to the northeast, the more common the fish. 

 At Eastport they are very plenty in the heart of 

 winter, the very time when few or none are 

 seen in our harbors in this region.* 



The following are the characteristic differences 

 of the supposed varieties. 



Brown Tom-Cod, — Tomcodus Fuscus, — mot- 

 tled with brown olive on the back and sides. 



* A gentleman of observation remarks, that although the 

 tom-cod is scarce in the harbors in the winter, they may be 

 taken plentifully in the ponds and basins of streams, in Med- 

 ford and other neighboring towns, which have a communica- 

 tion with the tide water. He further observes, that in the 

 winter it is a charming exercise to search for them through 

 the transparent ice. When the fish is at rest, the ice directly 

 over it is struck with an axe, which brings it up instanter. A 

 hole is then made and the fish collected in baskets. 



