THE LING. 
189 
As the oil of this fpecies can only he obtained while 
the animal is in feafon, fo it can be extracted from the 
liver only by a flow fire ; if a violent heat be applied in 
fuelling it, a very fmall quantity will be had from the 
filh, even in its greatell perfe&ion. Such filh as are cu- 
red for exportation, mud meafure a certain length from 
the fhoulder to the tail, otherwife they are not entitled 
to the bounty which parliament has granted for the en- 
couragement of this tiade ; twenty-fix inches is the length 
°f a fizeable filh ; thofe of inferior dimenfions are called 
drizzles, and becaufe incapable of procreation, they 
continue in feafon during the whole fummer *. 
There is a frefli water fifli that fomewhat refembles the 
ling, called the burbot, or eel-pout f: it abounds in the 
lake of Geneva, where it is called lota, and is found alfo 
lri feveral of the rivers in the north of England. The 
body is fmooth, foft, and lubricated like that of the eel ; 
die number and difpofition of fins, refembles that of the 
ling : The feafon of generation in this fpecies is Decem- 
ber ; at which period, though the body is fmall, one hun- 
dred and twenty-eight thoufand ova have been taken 
from a Angle female, each of which is capable of becom- 
ln g a filh, after fecundation by the male. 
Brit. Zoo!, ubi fupra. 
* Will. j>. its, 
