Clas IV. COMMON COD. FISH. 144 
{upply more than the deficiencies of the multitudes 
annually taken. Leuwenboek counted nine millions 
three hundred and eighty-four thoufand eggs'in a 
cod fifh of a middling fize, a number fure that will 
baffle all the efforts of man, or the voracity of the 
inhabitants of the ocean to exterminate, and which 
will fecure to all ages an inexhauttible isi of f 
grateful provifion. 
In our feas they begin to {pawn in Haven sail 
depofite their eggs in eel ground, among rocks. 
Some Fak ricaaemdior aie thé beginning of, pril, 
The cod fifh in general recover quicker after|{pawnr 
ing than any other fifh, therefore it is common to 
take fome good. ones all the fummer. When they 
are out of feafon they are thin tailed and loufy,,and 
the lice chiefly fix ooo es on the infide of theit 
mouths. 
The fith piba schiddlinie ae are. mod mec for 
the table, and are chofen by their plumpneds aid 
roundnefs, efpecially near the tail, by the depth of 
the fulcus or pit behind the head, and by the regular 
undulated appearance of the fides, as if they.; were 
ribbed. The glutinous parts about the head lofe 
their delicate oo after it has been twenty-four 
hours out of the water, even in winter, in which thefe 
and other fifh of this genus are in higheft feafon. 
The largeft that we ever heard of taken on our 
coafts weighed fixty-nine pounds, but the general 
weight on the York/bire feas is from fourteen to 
forty. 
This fpecies is fhort in proportion to its bulk, the 
belly being very large and prominent, 
K 4 The 
Size, 
Defers 
