Cod

an important food fish. There are some sixty species of cod and closely allied fishes. The common cod is spindle-shaped with a long tail. The skin is furnished with small, soft scales, inclosed in sacs. The mouth is wide. The lower jaw is furnished with a single feeler and the pair of lower front fins are reduced to the same office. The general color of the fish is brown above with dark spots, and silvery sheen beneath. It is from two to four feet long and weighs from two to seventy-five pounds. It is common in the North Atlantic from Greenland and Norway to Virginia and Spain, and in the North Pacific as far south as Oregon. The coasts of Norway, the British Isles, and especially the Banks of Newfoundland are noted for cod fisheries. Cape Cod was so named by the early navigators for the abundance of cod found off the coast. At certain seasons, cod approach the Lofoden Isles, off the coast of Norway, in shoals 100 feet deep, estimated to contain not less than 120,000,000 fishes.

Cod are taken with hook and line, the largest at a depth of 150 to 250 feet. Long lines secured with anchors, and having short lines attached at intervals of six feet, are set. A single schooner may set several trawls of this sort, carrying 12,000 or 15,000 hooks. The fishermen go along the lines in their dories, taking in the fish, and rebaiting the hooks. Cod are caught also by hand lines lowered from the sides of the fishing boat. Small fish and shell fish are used as bait. When cod are biting, a fishing boat is a busy place, as is expressed by the saying, "Fish, cut bait, or go ashore."

The eggs float. The young hatch in twelve days and attain the size of minnows in a few weeks. In a year they are a foot long. It is said that a 75 pound codfish produces 9,000,000 eggs in a single season. Nevertheless, the incessant fishing for cod has diminished the catch very noticeably. Over half the population of Newfoundland is engaged in codfishing. Boston and Gloucester, Massachusetts, handle about $3,000,000 worth of codfish annually. The total catch of the North Atlantic is estimated at about $25,000,000.

Codliver oil, obtained from the livers of the cod, is prepared in Great Britain, Iceland, Norway, and Newfoundland. It is used for dressing leather, and has of late obtained importance in medicine as a cure for consumption. Firms engaged in the purchase of oils for this purpose select the livers with care, and insist on the utmost cleanliness in rendering and bottling. The codliver oil having the best reputation with physicians is pressed from winter cod at the Lofoden Isles. It is marketed by way of Christiania.

The United States fish commission hatches and liberates about 350,000,000 young cod annually.

See Fish; St. Pierre

C. O. D., an abbreviation of collect on delivery. A clerk or messenger may be sent to deliver goods with instructions to collect the pay for the goods on delivery. Merchandise may be sent C. O. D. by an express company to be delivered on payment of the price. The company charges the customer for carrying the goods and charges the merchant for carrying back the money. See Express