282 ANACANTHINI. 



lanky form, are sure to be wooly and watery, and are locally known as " Church- 

 yard cod " and may be seen exposed for sale as early as the month of March. 

 In Norfolk it was formerly considered that the finest supplied to the market 

 were those sent from Sherringham, which were usually found to have been 

 feeding on crabs (Gurney). 



Modes of cooking. — Rutty observed that in his time (1772) the Fitzgallian 

 fishermen made a broth at sea from the cod and haddock, which they thickened 

 with the liver of the cod bruised to a paste, and incorporated with the broth. 

 When fresh the head and shoulders are boiled and served with oyster sauce and 

 melted batter : or the body may be similarly treated, or it may be stewed. 

 Slices of the fish may be fried, and are improved by some curried gravy being 

 added. Salt fish may likewise be boiled, also salted cod's sound, while the last 

 are sometimes fried in butter. 



Cod can be preserved in salt, and remain good for eating a much longer period 

 than any other form of the family. For curing, as observed by Bertram, the 

 fish should be used as soon as possible after capture : they are split along their 

 entire length, and well washed until all the blood is removed. A part of the 

 backbone having been cut away, they are drained and then laid in long vats, 

 covered with salt, and weighted down in order to keep them well under the pickle. 

 After a time they are removed, drained, washed, and brushed to prevent the 

 collection of impurities. Then they are bleached by being individually spread 

 out in the open air. This accomplished, they are collected into heaps termed 

 steeples. When the bloom or whitish appearance shows itself, the process is 

 complete and they are ready for the market. In the trade the salted cod-fish 

 brought from Norway and elsewhere are roughly divided into flat or klip, and 

 rund or stock-fish : the first form being salted and subsequently dried, and the 

 second simply dried without the use of salt. 



Habitat. — In the northern seas of Europe and America from about the 67° to 

 the 50° of latitudes, for such as are found north or south of these limits are either 

 few in quantity or inferior in quality ; except perhaps along the N.W. coast of 

 Norway, where, due to the presence of a warm gulf stream, it may be taken a 

 little further to the north : while those present in Greenland are small, emaciated, 

 and voracious. It extends principally from the south and west coasts of Iceland 

 and the shores of the Scandinavian Peninsula, through the North Sea and 

 coasts of the British Isles to those of France. While it is most abundant off 

 Newfoundland, where a mud bank more than 100 leagues long and 60 broad 

 exists buried in the ocean at from 60 to 100 feet or more below the surface. 



In the Orkneys it is said to swarm around the coast, but Low remarked that 

 in his time the fishery had become abandoned, and they were little sought after : 

 they are likewise very abundant in Zetland (W. Baikie), and are taken all round 

 our coasts ; but in decreasing numbers as we proceed southwards. It is abundant 

 in the sea around the islands to the north and west of Scotland ; has been locally 

 remarked upon as present at Wick (Reid) : along the coast of Banff (Edward) : 

 Aberdeen (Sim). In the Moray Firth in all seasons, but most plentiful in 

 March. St. Andrew's common (Mcintosh). Firth of Forth all the year round 

 (Parnell). Yorkshire abundant; codlings are taken plentifully inshore, and 

 ascend the estuary of the Humber as far as Goole (Yorkshire Vertebrata). From 

 Lincolnshire and Norfolk to the mouth of the Thames (Yarrell) : Devonshire 

 coast not so common or good as those from the N. or N.E. coast (Parfitt). In 

 Cornwall common all round on sandy banks and rough ground in sheltered bays 

 (R. Couch), but rarely in good condition for the table. In Ireland common 

 around the coast. 



The example figured was from the mouth of the Thames, and lOf inches in 

 length. The largest Pennant heard of from our coasts weighed 78 lb., it was 

 5 feet 8 inches long, and captured at Scarborough in 1755, and sold for one 

 shilling : their usual weight in Yorkshire he gave at from 14 to 40 lb. Thompson 

 records two taken on the same day in Belfast Bay which weighed 56 and 60 lb. 

 respectively. Yarrell, one of 60 lb. taken in the Bristol Channel, and produced 

 five shillings. -. 



