ead crumbs.

_Mode_.--Flake the cod carefully, leaving out all skin and bone; put the
bechamel in a stewpan with the butter, and stir it over the fire till
the latter is melted; add seasoning, put in the fish, and mix it well
with the sauce. Make a border of fried bread round the dish, lay in the
fish, sprinkle over with bread crumbs, and baste with butter. Brown
either before the fire or with a salamander, and garnish with toasted
bread cut in fanciful shapes.

_Time_.--1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the fish, 6d.

THE HABITAT OF THE COD.--This fish is found only in the seas of
the northern parts of the world, between the latitudes of 45 deg.
and 66 deg.. Its great rendezvous are the sandbanks of Newfoundland,
Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and New England. These places are its
favourite resorts; for there it is able to obtain great
quantities of worms, a food peculiarly grateful to it. Another
cause of its attachment to these places has been said to be on
account of the vicinity to the Polar seas, where it returns to
spawn. Few are taken north of Iceland, and the shoals never
reach so far south as the Straits of Gibraltar. Many are taken
on the coasts of Norway, in the Baltic, and off the Orkneys,
which, prior to the discovery of Newfoundland, formed one of the
principal fisheries. The London market is supplied by those
taken between the Dogger Bank, the Well Bank, and Cromer, on the
east coast of England.

COD A LA MAITRE D'HOTEL.

240. INGREDIENTS.--2 slices of cod, 1/4 lb. of butter, a little chopped
shalot and parsley; pepper to taste, 1/4 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg,
or rather less, when the flavour is not liked; the juice of 1/4 lemon.

_Mode_.--Boil the cod, and either leave it whole, or, what is still
better, flake it from the bone, and take off the skin. Put it into a
stewpan with the butter, parsley, shalot, pepper, and nutmeg. Melt the
butter gradually, and be very careful that it does not become like oil.
When all is well mixed and thoroughly hot, add the lemon-juice, and
serve.

_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_, 2s. 6d.; with remains of cold fish,
5d.

_Seasonable_ from November to March.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

_Note_.--Cod that has been left will do for this.

THE SEASON FOR FISHING COD.--The best season for catching cod is
from the beginning of February to the end of April; and although
each fisherman e