448 Fishes. 
THE COD-FISH, (Gadus morrhm,) 
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- 
ness. The back is of a brown olive colour, with white 
spots on the sides, and the lower part of the body is en- 
tirely white. The eyes are large and staring. The head 
is broad and fleshy, and esteemed a delicious dish. 
The fecundity of all fishes must be an object of the 
greatest astonishment to every observer of nature. In 
the year 1790, a Cod-fish was sold in Workington market, 
Cumberland, for one shilling : it weighed fifteen pounds, 
and measured two feet nine inches in length, and seven 
inches in breadth ; the roe weighed two pounds ten 
ounces, one grain of which contained three hundred and 
twenty eggs. The whole, therefore, might contain, by 
fair estimation, three million nine hundred and four 
thousand four hundred and forty eggs. From such a 
trifle as this we may observe the prodigious value of the 
fishing trade to a commercial nation, and hence draw a 
useful hint for increasing it ; for, supposing that each of 
the above eggs should arrive at the same perfection and 
size, its produce would weigh twenty-six thousand one 
hundred and twenty-three tons ; and consequently would 
load two hundred and sixty-one sail of ships, each of 
one hundred tons burden. If each fish were brought 
to market, and sold as the original one, for one shilling, 
the produce then would be one hundred and ninety-five 
thousand pounds; that is to say, the first shilling would 
produce twenty times one hundred and ninety-five thou- 
sand, or three million nine hundred thousand shillings. 
In the European seas, the Cod begins to spawn in 
