COD. 
479 
spawning-places and in the fjords, sometimes in 50 — 90 
fathoms of water. These nets have meshes 86 — 93 
mm. square, and are from 15 to 20 meshes deep. They 
are shot partly along the bottom ( botten-gavn , bundgarn 
at Lofoden) and partly nearer the surface {fly t gam, 
floit-g arn at Lofoden = floating nets). 
The flesh of the Cod is firm, white, and of good 
flavour, best when fresh, but only a very small pro- 
portion is consumed in this form. It is generally salted, 
and appears in the market under the name of Haberdine 
or Laberdan { Kabiljo ). The curing takes place, briefly, 
as follows: Immediately after the capture of the fish it 
is killed by a deep slit across the throat (isthmus), so 
that the blood may drain away. Then it is opened 
along the belly, the head is cut off, and the backbone 
removed to the third vertebra behind the vent; the dark 
peritoneum and the entrails should also be removed at 
the same time. Finally it is washed, and laid on twigs 
or in baskets for the wafer to run off”. The actual salting 
takes place, as soon as possible, either on board the vessel 
or in the factory on shore. It is performed in one of 
two ways: in bins or layers, when it is called dry-salting, 
or in watertight casks, when it is called pickling. 
When the fish are salted on shipboard, a bottom 
layer of salt is laid for the purpose in chests or bins. 
In these the fish are arranged, well strewn with and 
imbedded in salt, with the broad end downwards and 
the tail upwards, though not quite straight up and 
down, in i'oavs across the bin, until the Avhole bottom 
layer is full and compact. Then enough salt is strewn 
on the top to cover the tails almost entirely. The other 
layers, Avhich are arranged one above another, are pre- 
pared in the same way. 
The Arctic seas possess three Cod-species, each of 
Avhich has its interest in the Scandinavian fauna, though 
none of them has yet been found within its limits. 
The nearest approach to our Common Cod Ave find 
in the species Avhich Fabricius' 2 described from Green- 
land under the name of Gad as barbatus, and Avhich the 
Esquimaux call ogak, ovak , or ouak (PI. XXII, A, fig. 1: 
Gad as ogac, a 71 , 1 / 2 of the natural size; Claushavn, Dr. 
P. Oberg). Fabricius, according to the Linnaean me- 
in from 5 to 10 days, according to the Avarmth 
or coldness of the Aveather, the fish has absorbed the 
necessary amount of salt. It is then taken out of the 
bin, dried in the open air, and laid in a stack, Avith 
Aveights upon it, to be pressed. It is then ready 
for use. 
Dry-salting on land is performed in the same 
manner. The most important point to be observed, if 
an article that Avill bear keeping is required, is that 
the fish shall be laid out to dry in such a position 
that the Avind may have free passage above and beloAv 
it. The spot chosen should be shady, but free from 
damp. 
Pickling is carried out in watertight casks. The 
fish is killed and cleaned as in the process of dry- 
salting, and then salted in casks, the split fish being 
placed in a layer on the flat side, inside to inside and 
outside to outside, Avith enough salt between the layers 
to prevent one layer from touching the next. In from 
5 to 8 days the fish is sufficiently salted. It is then 
taken out of the cask and laid in a stack, that the brine 
may drain away, before it is dried and pressed as de- 
scribed above. 
When the salt fish is discharged from the vessel, 
it should be rinsed in fresh brine and pressed in heaps, 
the tails being ahvays turned outwards. In a feAv days 
it should be taken out of the press and dried in a 
breezy spot, but not in the sunshine. 
The most necessary condition is that the fish shall 
be bled and entirely cleaned as soon as possible; and 
a good salt article can be manufactured only of fresh 
fish, not more than a day or tAvo after its capture. 
(Ekstrom, S a i ITT.) 
thod described above, distinguished between the Cod 
{Gad as callarias) and the Kabiljo {Gad as morrhaa) on 
the coast of Greenland, and also thought that in the 
Linnaean name of Gadus barbatus , Avhich really belongs 
to the Bib, though Linnaeus also applied it to the Com- 
mon Cod, he had a suitable title for the Esquimaux ogak. 
Richardson * 6 saw the fault in the name and changed it 
to Gadus ogac, Avhich Reinhabdt c soon aftenvards Avrote 
Gadus ovak, Avhile Kroyer' 7 , probably by a slip of the 
“ Fauna Groenlandica, p. 146. 
6 Fauna Boreali- Americana, Fishes , p. 246. 
c D. Vid. Selsk. Naturv. og Matem. Afh., Deel 7, p. 127, No. 35. 
d Gaim., Voy. en Scandinavie et Laponie, p]. 19. 
