364 A DESCRIPTION OF 
noticed, not on account of its disputing with the haddock 
the honour of having been pressed by the fingers of the 
apostle, nor of its having been trodden upon by the 
gigantic foot of St. Christopher, when he carried on his 
shoulders a divine burden across an arm of the sea, but 
for the excellence of its flesh. It has been for some years 
in such favour with our epicures, that one of them, a 
comedian of high repute, (Quin,) took a journey to Ply- 
mouth merely to eat John Dorees in perfection. The 
body of this fish presents the shape of a rhomboid, but 
the sides are much compressed ; the mouth is large, and 
the snout long, composed of several cartilaginous plates, 
which wrap and fold one over another, in order to enable 
the fish to catch its prey. The colour is a dark green, 
marked with black spots, with a golden gloss, whence 
the name originated. They inhabit the coasts of Eng- 
land, and particularly Torbay, whence they are sent to 
the fish-markets of London. 
When the Doree is taken alive out of the water, it is 
able to compress its internal organs so rapidly that the 
air, in rushing through the openings of the gills, pro- 
duces a kind of noise somewhat like that which, on simi- 
lar occasions, is emitted by the gurnards. 
THE COD-FISH (Gadus morrhua,) 
Is a noble inhabitant of the seas ; not only on account of 
its size, but also for the goodness of its flesh, either fresh 
or salted. The body measures sometimes above three, 
and even four feet in length, with a proportionable thick- 
