G A D U S. 
berof tbefe fifh ; a Frenchman of the name of Luifon firfl 
let tliem the example in their own country. 
The cod is not tenacious of life; it dies foon after it is 
taken out of the fea, or even if put into fredi water. As 
they are excellent when eaten frefli, the Dutch fidtcrmen 
endeavour, by means of perforated tubs, to convey them 
alive to tlie fea-ports; but the Englith prick the air-blad¬ 
der with a pin, which obliges.them to remain at the bot- 
tont of the vell'el they are put in, and thus preferves them 
longer alive. The ftomach is large; and at the origin of 
the intellinal canal there- are fix appendages divided into 
feveral branches. The liver is of a pale red, and confitls 
of three lobes; the fpleen is blackilh, and long; the kid¬ 
neys are at tlie back-bone, along tlie ventral cavity, end¬ 
ing in a long bladder; the feed-veffel and ovary are dou¬ 
ble. See Plate I. fig. i. 
There is a-vtiriety of the cod found about the Ifle of 
Man, between England and Ireland,which is called red 
cfld or rock-cod. It is of a vermilion colour, and much 
efteemed. Cepede confiders it as a diftindl: fpecies. 
4. Gadus lufcus, the bib: fpecific characfer, the firfi: 
ray of eacli ventral fin terminating in a long filament or 
bridle. The fiiif dorf.il fin has thirteen rays, the fecond 
twenty-three, the third ten ; the pedtorals eleven, the 
ventrals fix ; the firft anal thirty-one, the fecond eighteen, 
the tail-fin feventeen. The mouth is fmall, the upper 
jaw fomewhat the longed; a fingle barbie hangs from the 
corner. The fecond dori'al fin is very long ; the anus is 
nearer to the head than to the tail; the tail-fin is forked, 
and equally divided. This fpecies is found in the Euro¬ 
pean ocean ; it feldom exceeds a foot in length. The 
fcales are very firmly fixed to the (kin, and are largenin 
proportion than even thofe of the common xod. The 
upper furface is yellowidi, or olive-colour; the under 
part filvery. 1 1 is delicate eating. The eyes are veiled 
by a membrane, like the red of the genus; but fome have 
fuppofed in this fpecies a peculiar power of inflating this 
membrane fo as to cover entirely one or both organs of 
fight; hence the trivial name lufcus, or blind w'ith one 
eye; though probably this appearance was only an acci¬ 
dental circumdance in the fingle individual examined. 
5. Gadus barbatus, the whiting-pout: fpecific cha- 
radter, the breadth of the body equal to one-third of its 
length, indentions on each fide of the lower jaw. There 
are fix rays in the membrane of the gills, eighteen in the 
pedforal fins, fix in the ventrals, twenty-five in the firft 
anal, feventeen in the fecond, thirty in the tail, thirteen 
in the fird dorfal, nineteen in the fecond, eighteen in the 
third. The head is fmall; the irmuthTarge; the upper 
jaw projedts, and both jaws are armed with fmall teeth; 
there are two bones in the gullet as rough as a file; in 
front of the lower jaw is a barbie, and fix or feven little 
holes on each fide. The lips are drong, made up of fe¬ 
veral cartilages united by a common membrane, which 
the fifh can draw back or protrude at will ; the tongue is 
fhort, thick, and rough at the hinder part; the nodrils are 
double, and placed near the eyes; the eyes are large, jut¬ 
ting out, and provided with a membrane; pupil black, 
iris filvery ; but this mud vary in fome fubjedfs, for Dii- 
hamel fays the iris is lemon-colour. The gill-covert is 
compofed of feveral laminae ; the aperture is large, and 
the membrane only vifible in part. This fifh has fmall 
fcales which adhere very drongly to the fkin. The la¬ 
teral line, which begins at the back of the head, is black; 
it forms a bend towards the belly at the extremity of the 
fecond dorfal fin, and is lod in the tail. The back is of 
a greenidi brown, round, and fleshy ; the belly diort, and 
white; the fides white inclining to red ; the anus is not 
far from the head. Of the three dorfal fins, the fird is 
fhort, high, and fhaped like a feythe. There is a black 
fpot in the middle of the pedloral fin, w'hich Fabricius, 
however, did not remark in thofe he faw in Greenland, 
The fins have all foft rays united by a thick membrane ; 
they are olive-colour, except the tail, which is red ; and 
mod of the fins are black at the extremities. 
VoL. Vin. No. 492. 
This fpecies is known in many countries of the Nor¬ 
thern Ocean. Gronovius found it in Holland, Rutiy in 
Ireland, Willughby in England, Leem in I.apland, Ono 
Fabricius in Greenland, Duhamel in the noi th of France. 
At Croific in Brittany they remain mod of the year in the 
open Tea, only approaching the rocky fhores in Augud to 
cad their fpawn. In Greenland they fpawn in f'etiruary 
and March, laying their eggs in funny places; the young 
appear in June, and may then be feen in numbers near 
the fliore. Their length is from fifteen to eighteen inches, 
and I heir weight about three pounds; with us they feldom 
grow more than a foot long, and are very plentiful. Du¬ 
hamel fays, that in the feafon they catch them abour 
Bred from one hundred to one hundred and fifty at a haul. 
This is alfo of the voracious tribe, feeding particularly on 
the blenny fpecies; but, for want of better fare, it will 
feed on crabs. Its fledi is white and foft, but loon taints; 
from Otfober to January is the feafon, yet in France-they 
are lean and dry even at that time, and confequeiit.ly lit¬ 
tle edeemed ; but with us they are fat, and reckoned good 
food; the Greenlanders eat them either frelh dr dried, 
and do not like them the worfe for being a little tainted ; 
they take out the eggs of the dried ones, and drefs them 
for food ; they alfo prepare the liver in a peculiar manner. 
6. Gadus minutus, the poor: this fpecies, which is ne¬ 
ver more than feven or eight irrches long, is didinguiflied 
by the belly being black within, and the anus midway 
between head and tail. There are feven rays in the mem¬ 
brane of tlie gills, fourteen in the pedloral fins, fix in the 
ventrals, twenty-five in the fird anal, feventeen in the fe¬ 
cond, eighteen in the tail, twelve in the fird dorfal, nine¬ 
teen in the fecond, twenty in the third. The body is 
long, the head wedge-fhaped; the upper jaw is the longed, 
and has more rows of lharp teeth than the lower ; the' 
lower jaw has a barbie alfo, and feveral fmall dents. 
The eyes are round, with a black pupil and a filvery iris, 
and are covered with a membrane. The cheeks, the Tides, 
and the belly, are (ilver-colour, dudded with black dots; 
the back is dark yellow; the lateral line is narrow and 
draight, and the anus is in the middle of the body. The 
fcales are thin, very fmall, and eadly rub off. This fpe- 
cies is found in the Baltic and North Seas, and in the Me¬ 
diterranean. It is the fmalled of the cod kind yet dif- 
covered; and it is the only one found in the Mediter¬ 
ranean. It is taken near Marfeilles, and in fuch quan¬ 
tities as fometimes to prove a nuifance. It is iindt 
either for being dried or failed ; if the fird is attempted, 
it grows as hard as a horn. When it appears in the Bal¬ 
tic, the fidiermen rejoice, becaufe it announces a plen¬ 
tiful ddiery of cod and haddock; and they call it the lea¬ 
der, becaufe, being fmall and going in dioals, the larger 
fpecies follow them with rapacity, and thus become the 
prey of more rapacious man. This fpecies haunts deep 
places, living on young fry, Ihell-ddi, fnails, crabs; and 
fea-worms. They come into fmooth places to fpawn, 
depofiting their ova beiween dones and on aquatic plants. 
It is well-taded when frefli; and is caught with a ground¬ 
line and in nets. 
7. Gadus blennioides, the blcnny-gadus : fpecific cha- 
rafler, the fird ray of each ventral fin long, and divided 
in two. The membrane of the gills has fix rays ; the firft 
dorfal fin ten or eleven, the fecond feventeen, the third 
fixtecn ; the ventrals five, the pedtorals nineteen ; the fird 
anal twenty-feven, the fecond nineteen; and the tail-fin 
twenty-feven. The head is thick, of a conical fliape, 
with a blunt fnout ; the lips are double and flediy; the 
teeth are fmall and uneven, efpecially thofe of the upper 
jaw ; the tongue is pointed, flediy, and prominent; the 
palate is furrowed longitudinally within. The eyes are 
large, with a filvery iris. The gill-cpverts are foft. The 
fird dorfal dn is narrow, and of a triangular diape ; the 
fecond lower; the third fomewhat higher, but diorter. 
The fird anal dn is rounded, the other triangular; the 
pedlorals are narrow, lickle-diaped, and thin; the tail is 
bifurcated. The fird ray of each ventral being divided, 
SI • and 
