Each female cod has more than 9,000,000 eggs, but the numbers are kept down by a host of enemies.

The most interesting species is the "Common" or "Bank Cod." Though they are found plentifully on the coasts of other northern regions, such as Britain, Scandinavia and Iceland, a stretch of sea near the coast of Newfoundland is the favorite annual resort of countless multitudes of cod, which visit the "Grand Banks" to feed upon the molluscous animals abundant there, and thus attract fleets of fishermen.

The spawning season on the banks of Newfoundland begins about the month of March and terminates in June; but the regular period of fishing does not commence before April, on account of the storms, ice and fogs. The season lasts till the end of June, when the cod commence their migrations.

The average length of the common cod is about two and one-half or three feet, and the weight between thirty and fifty pounds, though sometimes cod are caught weighing three times as much. The color is a yellowish gray on the back, spotted with yellow and brown; the belly white or red, with golden spots in young specimens.

Few members of the animal creation are more universally serviceable to man than the codfish. Both in its fresh state and when salted and dried, it is a substantial and wholesome article of food. The tongue is considered a delicacy. The swimming-bladders or "sounds," besides being highly nutritious, supply, if rightly prepared, isinglass equal to the best of that which is brought from Russia. The oil, which is extracted from the liver, is of great medicinal value, and contributes considerably to the high economic value of the cod.

The finest and palest oil is made from fresh and carefully cleaned liver, the oil being extracted either in the cold or by a gentle heat. Only the pale oils are used in medicine; the dark oils are too rank and acrid, and they are only used in dressing leather.