In offshore fishing the trap-net is also used in addition to set-lines, and the larger boats occasionally use hand-lines, if the fish bite freely. A very large catch is made, with the set-lines and nets, and the boatmen go out every morning to take out the fish and bait the hooks, perhaps paying another visit in the evening. Upon the return of the men to the home settlement with their boatload of fish, the women and children join them in cleaning the fare, safting it and spreading it on °flakes° to dry. At times the fishing is so good that the men make three and four trips daily to the nets and lines, carrying home a good load on each trip. Then the women and children pre pare the fish in order to save time.
The time required to cure the codfish varies from 4 to 10 days according to the weather. With a succession of sunny days, the fare will be thoroughly cured in less than a week, but the fish must be protected against rainy weather, in spite of the salt with which they are rubbed after being cleaned.
The °flakes° are composed of platforms of boughs elevated from 6 to 10 feet above the ground upon scaffolding; and the fish are laid upon the boughs so closely together that at a distance the °flakes° look as if they were cov ered with pieces of white canvas. Each fish is turned over at least once every 24 hours, in order to cure both sides thoroughly; and when the process is completed the fish is as stiff as a piece of board. No other ingredient except salt is required for the ordinary curing, al though some of the cod prepared. at the larger settlements are ground into fine particles after being dried, and mixed with a jam made of small berries. This is placed in jars and sold as a preventive of scurvy. The fares secured by the larger vessels remain in their holds until the cargo is completed. On arrival at Saint johns, or the home port, the cargoes are sold, in a partly cured condition, to the mer chants, who finish the preserving process. In buying the fish from the large vessels, as well as from the fishermen in the settlements about the coast, the cod are valued according to their weight, and generally sorted in three different sizes, the . largest bringing a proportionately greater price. The merchant, as he is known in Newfoundland, is the large dealer who ex ports the fish to the tropics and Europe. rIe buys from both the fishermen and the °planters.' The latter are a sort of middlemen, and usually have °stations° located at different points along the coast. These stations include general stores containing everything required by the fishermen.. The people in the vicinity can go to the station and exchange their har vest for what they need at home and the outfit required for fishing, and, if anything is left to their credit, can obtain its equivalent in money.
Many of them, however, are usually in debt to the planter, and, in a. good year, the sur plus remaining after obtaining their necessities goes in payment of the debt of a previous sea son. The planters also buy schooner loads, and many of them own steamers and sailing ves sels which make regular trips around the island, carrying the fish purchased by the planter to the general market at Saint Johns or one of the other large towns.
1A'hile the number of cod caught varies con siderably according to the season, the average catch is from 1,250,000 to 1,700,000 quintals, the value, of course, depending on the price. Within the last two or three years the revenue from this source has aggregated about $3,000,000. The number of crews engaged in codfishing can only be estimated, owing to the variety of craft and the wide field of their operations. Au thorities on the subject, however, estimate that fully 90,000 men are engaged in the fishery each year, and that a fleet of fully 1,000 two-masted vessels, hailing from the island alone, ply upon the nearby waters and on the banks. Practi cally all of these vessels are home-made, the wood for both hulls and spars being secured from forests in the interior, while the sails and rigging are imported chiefly from England. For a full account of the natural history of the codfish; consult Goode, (Atherican Fishes); and for statistics of the fisheries and other information, the Reports) of the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fish eries.
OIL, an oil (oteum morrhuce) obtained from the liver of the common cod (Gadus callarias) and allied species. In medi cine it is of great use as a nutritive in certain debilitated or wasting conditions, on account of the great ease with which it is absorbed. There are three grades known in commerce, pale or shore, pale-brown or straits and dark-brown or banks, the first being the purest. The oil was formerly, and is still to some extent, obtained by rotting the livers for several months, but most of it is now got by heating the fresh liv ers with steam after they have been cleaned and have had the gall-bladders removed. Cod liver oil is prepared now in Norway, the United States, Canada, Newfoundland, Great Britain, Iceland and Russia. The largest quantity and the best quality comes from the Lopoten Isles in Norway. Cod-liver oil consists of about 70 per cent olive, 25 pet cent palmitine, small quantities of stearine and glycerides of the lower fatty acids, cholesterin, 0.002 per cent — 0.003 per cent iodine, organic compounds of chlorine, bromine, sulphur and iron, ammonia and its substitution products, certain character istic bases, certain characteristic organic acids and peculiar pigments, known as lipochromes.