THE SWORD-FISH. 357

another plank also of two inches. ‘‘ The position of the bone
was at the distance of four feet horizontally from the stern, and
two feet below the surface of the water when the vessel was
afloat. Hence, it appeared, that when the ship had been in
rapid progress through the water, she had been met with and
struck by a sword-fish advancing in an opposite direction, by
the shock of which, or by the action of the water forced past
the body of the animal by the vessel’s progress, the snout had
been broken off and detached. The blow, though it must
have been singularly forcible, was not observed by any person
in the ship. Had the bone been withdrawn, the vessel would
probably have foundered.’’ Mr. Wood says in one instance, a
sword-fish attacking a whaling-ship, drove its weapon ‘‘ through
the copper sheathing, an inchboard sheathing, a three-inch
plank of hard wood, the solid white oak timber of the ship
twelve inches thick, through another two-and-a-half inch hard
oak ceiling plank, and lastly, perforated the head of an oil-
cask, where it still remained immovably fixed, so that not a
single drop of oil escaped.’’

The Cod. The third order of Dr. Giinther’s classification
includes many of the more familiar fishes. Here we find the
Cod, the Haddock, the Place, the Flounder, the Halibut, the
Turbot, the Brill and the Sole. Of these we will take the Cod
as representative. The Cod is one of the most prolific of fish.
Enormous quantities are caught and consumed every year and
yet the number seems to increase rather than decrease. This
is accounted for by the fact, that the spawn of one fish will
sometimes contain nine millions of eggs. The Cod frequents
the deep seas of the temperate and colder climes, not being
found in any quantities north of Iceland, or South of Gibraltar,
They are found chiefly in the Northern Atlantic, where exten-
sive fisheries are carried on, but they are also caught in the
Forth of Firth at the mouth of which some of the best are
taken. ‘The Cod grows very rapidly and often to a great size.
One is said to have been caught off Scarborough many years