154 
G A D U S. 
pe<fi:oral fins, fix in the ventrals, twenty-two in the firfi: 
anal, twenty-one in tlie fecond, twenty-feven in tlie tail, 
lixteen in-the firft dorfal, twenty in the fecond, nineteen 
in (he ihicd. Tlie head is wedge-fiiaped, the upper jaw 
longer than (he lower, whence hangs one barbie j the 
mouth is narrower than in the reft of the fpecies. The 
eyes are large, pupil black, iris filvery. The fcales are 
Imall, round, and ftrongly fixed in the (kip. The back 
is brownifti, arched, and thick; the belly and Tides are 
lilvery; and there is a black fpot on each fide near the 
pectoral fin, the prints, as it is laid, of the finger and 
thumb of St. Peter, when he held this fpecies, and took 
the tribute out of its mouth : a mark which fuperftition 
lias extended to the whole race of haridocks, at once to 
atteft and commemorate that miracle; unfortunately, 
liowever, the haddock is not the only fifh that has been 
fup[iofed to be thus diftinguiflied by the marks of the 
apoftolic touch. 
This fpecies inhabits the North Sea, and are taken in 
pdenty in the autumn near Heligoland, whence they are 
carried to Hamburgh. Tt is remarkable, that the haddock 
does not pafs through the Sound into the Baltic ; and that 
the next fpecies, which lives in the Baltic, never paffes 
the Straits into the North Sea, though they are found in 
plenty near each other in both thofe leas. They are 
found in Holland, Eaft Friezeland, &c. and appear upon 
the coaftsof Britain amutally, particularly thofe of York- 
(hire, about the middle of December, and in fuch vaft 
ftioals, that they cover a tradf frequently of many miles. 
They do not venture far from the Ihore ; when the fifti- 
ermen caft their lines beyond their limits, which is com¬ 
monly about three miles from land, there are feldom any 
taken. The larger haddocks quit the coaft as foon as 
they begin to be out of feafoii, leaving behind only the 
fmallerhlh. Tliis remark is ajiplicable to all the filh 
that appear c-n the Yorklliire coaft, except the mackerel, 
which alone remains after becoming unfit for ule. The 
haddock is the moft common fpecies in the London mar¬ 
ket, as it is not only plenty, hut in feafon during the 
greateft part of the year. Tlie larger fifti begin to roe in 
the middle of November, and continue fo till the end of 
January, when they are unfit for ufe. Thofe of the mid¬ 
dle fize recover about the beginning of May, and are in 
feafon till February; fuch us are incapable of breeding 
remain at all times fit for the table. In ftormy weather 
none of this fpecies take the bait; the filhernien alfert, 
that they then ooze in the bottom of the fea, and ftielter 
tliemfelves there, till the agitation of the water has 
ceafed : in proof of this, they allege, that thofe which 
are taken immediately after a ftorm, are covered with mud 
upon the back. In Greenland, tiiey live in the deeps, 
but rife to the futf.tce towards evening, efpecially if the 
water be rough ; fometimes alfo they jump out of the 
water to avoid the purfuit of the dog-tilh, whi-ch catch 
them in their paws between the cracks in the ice wlien 
they come to take the air. In Friezeland they fifti for 
them with ground lines baited with a fmall fifti, which 
they throw in at night, and feldom fail to find a haddock 
on every hook in the morning, efpecially in fine weather ; 
tliey have alfo a laudable cuftom among them, which is, 
that every fiftierman is obliged to throw in a line for the 
widows of fifhermeii in the village, and to fend them what 
it produces. The Greenlanders catch them with their 
hands through holes in the ice, towards which the fifties 
prefs to take air. 
Tlie length of this fifti is commonly a foot, and their 
weight a pound and a half; fume have been feen of tv.o 
or three feet long, and weighing forty pounds. They 
fpawn ill February, the females coming in towards the 
fliore in great Ihoals to lay their ova ; then come the 
males, and fecundate the eggs. The haddock eats crabs 
and lea-inledts; it purfues the herrings, and grows fat 
upon theiii in the fummer; whereas in autumn tlie had¬ 
dock is lean, bccaiife it lives then upon worms. The 
flefti is white, firm, well-tailed, and eafy of digeftioii. Se¬ 
veral other voracious kinds, ns well as the (hark, are its 
enemies. Tlie liver is whitifli, confiding of two lobes of 
unequal lengths; tlie fpleenis triangular, lying under the 
ftomach, which is long, thick, and has feveral appenda¬ 
ges; the inteftinal canal has three finuolities, and is wide 
below. The air-bladder is -long, and covered with a 
lutinoiis fubftance. The kidneys, roe, and ovary, are 
ouble, and the eggs are yellow. There are fifteen ribs 
on each fide, and thirty-five vertebrae in all. 
2. Gadus callarias, the torfk: I'pecific charadler, the 
upper jaw the longeft, tail even, the lateral line broad 
and (potted. There are feven rays in the brarichioftege 
membrane, feventeen in the pectoral fins, fix in the ven¬ 
trals,‘eighteen in the firft anal, feventeen in i|ie fecond, 
twenty-fix in the tail, fourteen in the firft dorfal, fifteen 
in the fecond, eighteen in the third. The head is lefs 
than the haddock’s ; it is of a grey colour, on wliicli ap¬ 
pear fonie fpots, brown in fnrnmer and black in winter^ 
tlie mouth is large, tlie upper jaw longer than the lower, 
with feveral rows of teeth; from the lower hai'gs a barbie, 
and it has but one row of teeth ; tlie paUUe is alfo armed, 
with teeth. The eyes are round ; tl'.e pupil black, the 
iris o.f a yeUowifli white. The trunk is grey, (potted 
with brown as far as the belly, and covered with little, 
thin, foft, fcales ; the fpots on the body in fome of the 
y'ouiig ones is a light red inclining to yellow. 7 he la¬ 
teral line is near the back, and bends downwards towards 
the firft anal fin. The belly is thick, mingled with black 
and brown, in fome reddifti. Tlie fins are white, fome¬ 
times red: hence it has been called vai'ius, or varying. 
This fpecies is found in the Baltic and Northern Ocean ; 
they will enter the rivers as far as the waters of tlie ocean 
are mingled with them. They are caught near Rugcii- 
w’ald in Pomerania all the year, but particularly in June ; 
they are alfo caught in plenty about Travenmnd, Oeli- 
land, Gothland, Bornholm, Lnbec, in Pruflia, and in 
Livonia. In Greenland, the moft favourable feafons for 
this fiftiery are the fpring and autumn ; in winter, they 
make holes in the ice, and invite the fifti by fome glit¬ 
tering bait. Bloch (ays, that this is the tendered and 
heft of all the genus, and may be eaten by weakly pcrlons 
without danger. They live on other fifh, aquatic infefts, 
and worms: Fabricins found in its ftomach the father- 
laftter, fome crabs, and (everjl ley-worms. 7 'liey feldom 
weigh more than two pounds; yet they have been taken 
about Rugenvvald weighing feven or eight pounds, and 
even to fourteen ; Schoneveldt (peaks of one four feet 
long. They fpawn in January and February; tlie Ice¬ 
landers fait and dry them, and give them the name of tit- 
teling. The interior conformation is the fame as the pre¬ 
ceding, except that the inteftinal canal has hut two fmo- 
ofities : there are eighteen ribs on each fide, and the ver¬ 
tebrae are fifty-three in number. 
3. Gadus morhua, the common co,d-fi(h : the largenefs 
of the fcales, and a fpine in the firft anal fin, form the fpe- 
cific charadler. There are feven rays in the membrane 
of the gills, fixteen in the peftoral fins, fix in the ven¬ 
trals, feventeen in the firft anal, fixteen in the fecond, 
thirty in the tail, fifteen in the firft dorfal, nineteen in the 
fecond, twenty-one in the third. The head, back, and 
fides, are grey, with yellowilh fpots; when the young 
ones haunt a rocky bottom, their belly becomes reddilh. 
with yellow fpots; but this colour paQ'esoff as they grow 
bigger, and quit thofe deeps, and then they regain their 
natural colours. The mouth is large; the upper jaw 
protruded, and a little barbie hangs from the lower. 
The pupil of the eye is black, the iris yellowifti. The 
belly is white; the tail and dorfal fins are fpotted with 
yellow, the ventrals and anals are grey, and the pedtorals 
yellow, the rays are all foft and ramified. The anus is 
nearer to the head than to the tail. 
This filh inhabits the ocean, and is found between the 
fortieth and fixty-fixth degree of north latitude ; it is alfo 
found in higher latitudes, as in Greenland, but then they 
are not fo good, nor fo numerous. They are taken in 
vaft 
