134 



COMMON COD. 



for fifteen thousand British seamen, and to afford 

 subsistence to a much more numerous body of 

 people at home, who are engaged in the various 

 manufactures which so vast a fishery demands. 

 The fish, when taken, are properly cleaned, salted, 

 and dried, and in this state sent into various parts 

 of the European continent. 



The Cod grows to a very large size. Mr. Pen- 

 nant commemorates a specimen taken on the 

 British coasts which weighed seventy-eight pounds, 

 and measured five feet eight inches in length, and 

 five feet in girth round the shoulders ; but the 

 general size, at least in the British seas, is far less, 

 and the weight from about fourteen to forty pounds ; 

 and such as are of middling size are most esteemed 

 for the table. 



The Cod is of a moderately long shape, with the 

 abdomen very thick and prominent s the head is of 

 moderate size, and the eyes large : the jaws of 

 equal length, the lower one bearded at the tip by 

 a single cirrus : in the jaws and palate are numer- 

 ous sharp teeth : the dorsal and anal fins are rather 

 large, the pectoral rather small : the ventral small and 

 slender : the tail of moderate size, and even at the 

 end, the first ray on each side being short, strong, 

 and bony. The usual colour of this fish is cinereous 

 on the back and sides, and commonly spotted with 

 dull yellow: the belly white or silvery; but the 

 colours occasionally vary very considerably, and 

 instances are often seen in which a yellow, orange, 

 or even red tint prevails on the upper parts of the 

 body, while the spots are lighter or deeper accord- 



