LOFODEN  NORWEGIAN  COD-LIVER  OIL. 
157 
These  things  being  so,  we  may  advance  to  another  proposition.  • 
Immense  shoals  of  cod  arriving  from  the  deep  sea  make  their 
annual  appearance  on  the  Norwegian  coast  early  in  January, 
and  continue  there  to  the  end  of  April,  when  the  last  of  them 
return.  We  are  already  in  possession  of  the  fact  that  at  New- 
foundland the  shoals  of  cod  arrive  at  the  end  of  June  and  retire 
in  October.  By  a  comparison  of  these  dates,  it  is  apparent  that 
their  arrival  first  on  one  coast,  then  on  the  other,  and  their  de- 
parture first  from  one  coast,  then  from  the  other,  are  separated 
by  exact  intervals  of  six  months.  In  both  cases  they  come 
from  and  return  to  the  deep  sea,  that  is,  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
At  Lofoden  they  arrive,  and  now  alledged,  for  the  purpose  of 
spawning;  at  Newfoundland,  certainly  as  fish  of  prey.  At 
Lofoden,  all  other  kinds  of  fish  fly  before  them  and  are  suffered 
to  escape  ;  at  Newfoundland,  they  follow  in  fierce  pursuit  shoals 
of  capelin,  cuttlefish  and  herrings.  At  Lofoden,  they  arrive  in 
their  finest  and  best  condition,  leaving  thin  and  emaciated  ;  at 
Newfoundland  they  arrive  hungry  and  ravenous,  devouring  their 
prey  with  the  greatest  voracity,  till  at  last  they  become  gorged 
and  no  longer  able  to  feed ;  in  this  state,  previous  to  their  de- 
parture, they  can  be  seen  through  the  clear  wrater  to  refuse  their 
favorite  food  held  before  them  as  bait.  From  the  great  bank  of 
Newfoundland  to  Lofoden  flows  that  powerful  equalizer  of  tem- 
peratures, that  warm  river  in  the  sea,  the  great  Gulf  Stream. 
In  its  course,  and  about  midway  between  Lofoden  and  New- 
foundland, is  the  island  of  Iceland  ;  cod  leaving  Lofoden  in 
March  to  arrive  at  Newfoundland  in  June  and  July,  might  be 
excepted  between  these  dates  to  appear  on  the  fishing-grounds 
of  this  island  ;  they  actually  do  so,  the  chief  cod-fishery  in  Ice- 
land occurring  in  the  spring  and  summer.  Finally,  cod  approach 
Lofoden  from  the  south-west ;  Newfoundland  is  due  south-west 
of  Lofoden. 
Weighing  these  facts,  a  very  interesting  and  important  inquiry 
presents  itself,  whether  these  multitudes  of  fish,  retiring  as  they 
do  from  one  and  appearing  on  the  opposite  side  of  a  great  ocean 
at  definite  and  exact  intervals,  may  not  be  composed  of  the 
same  individuals  moving  in  prodigious  numbers  and  probably  in 
detached  shoals,  urged  by  a  powerful  instinct  to  pursue  systematic 
