Clafs IV. HAD oO £ se. |: ies 
to feveral of our fpecies of cod fifh by the more 
modern writers ; yet the antients from whom they 
are borrowed, have not authorized the application 
to any particular kind, either by defcription or any 
other method. 
Different reafons have been affigned for giving the 
name of Ov@», or Afinus to this genus,’ fome ima- 
gining it to be from the color of the fith, others be- 
caufe it ufed to be carried on the backs) of affes to 
market; but we fhall drop this uncertain fubjeG, 
and proceed to what we have fuller affurance of. 
Large hadocks begin to be in roe the middle of Seafon, 
November, and continue fo till the end of Fanuary,; 
from that time till May they are very -thin tailed, 
and much out of feafon. In May they begin to tre- 
cever, and fome of the middling-fized 'fith are then 
very good, and continue improving till the time of 
their:greateft perfection. The fmall,ones are exe 
tremely eood from May tll february, and fome even 
in February, March, and April, viz. thofe winch are 
not old enough to breed. 
The fifhermen affert, that in rough weather on 
docks fink down into the fand, and ooze in the-bote 
tom of the fea, and fhelter themfelves there till the 
ftorm is over, becaufe in {tormy weather they take 
none, and thofe that are taken immediately after a 
{torm are covered with mud on their backs; 
In fummer they live on young herrings and other pogg, 
fmall fifh ; in winter on the ftone- cored worms *, 
which the ine men call badock meat. 
* A {pecies of Serpulae 
The 
