COCY'TUS, the name given by the ancients to a river of Epirus. fed by the snows of Pindus, and which, after a long underground course, was regarded as falling into the Acherusian lake.—Cocytus was also the name of a river of the infernal regions, a branch of the Styx.
COD, Gadus morrkua, or Mbrrhua vulgaris, a fish of the family gadidm (q.v.), almost rivaling the herring in its importance to mankind. The genus to which it belongs is distinguished by having three dorsal fins, two anal fins, and a barbule beneath the chin. The C. sometimes attains a weight of 100 lbs.; but even from a small size, it is in request for the market and the table. The roe of the female has been esti mated to contain from four to nine millions of eggs, a reproductive power which seems beneficently intended to provide supply for far more extensive fisheries than are yet carried on. The C. is found in all the northern parts of the Atlantic ocean, and in the arctic seas; it is not known in the Mediterranean. It occurs both on rocky coasts and on sandbanks, where the largest are usually caught in depths of from 25 to 50 fathoms. The productiveness of the great banks of Newfoundland excels that of all others, but the cod-fisheries near the coasts of Sweden, Iceland, and the n. of
Scotland, are also important. The Dutch were engaged in the cod-fishery as early as the middle of the 14th c. , and the English resorted for this purpose to the coasts of Iceland about the same period. The French have also engaged largely in the cod fishery. More than 6,000 European vessels are said to be employed in it, besides boats along the shores. The fishery is always carried on by means of lines and hooks, partly by long-lines and partly by hand-lines. One man has been known to catch from 400 to 550 fish, on the banks of Newfoundland, in 10 or 11 hours; and 8 men to take eighty-score in a day on the Dogger bank. The C. is very voracious. Small fishes, shell-fish, etc., are used for bait. The C. is used as food, either fresh, salted, or dried. Great quantities of dried C. are carried from Newfoundland to the West Indies, and are consumed also in the Roman Catholic courques of the s. of Europe. Cod sounds are esteemed a delicacy, and are often salted, and so sent to market. They are also used in a dried state as isinglass. The recent discovery of the medicinal value of cod-liver oil (q.v.) has added to the economical importance of this fish.