70 
Mr. Coucu on the Natural History 
dinary kind. I have seen them, at the fall of a river, dive 
below the moss, that hung from above into the water, and 
worm themselves upward through the fibres by the side of 
the stream, resting at intervals as if to recover strength ; 
and at last, when at the top, exert their utmost activity to 
stem the rapid current and reach a place of safety. In 
getting up the little cataract that pours over a sloping rock, 
they prefer those places which are only moistened by the 
droppings from above; but those which quit the moisture 
altogether, as I have seen some do, are obliged to alter 
their course, and proceed to places more easy for them to 
travel in. ‘The motive for this migration, which is general 
among young Eels, I have not been able to discover. Some 
among them I have observed to be so diaphanous that the 
vertebræ may be counted; and, taking advantage of an 
opportunity of this kind, I ascertained that when in a state 
of activity, and not alarmed, the pulsations of the heart were 
forty in a minute. 
Conger. M. Conger.—This fish frequents rocky ground, and is 
frequently found concealed in holes of rocks. When hooked 
on a long line moored in the sea, it will sometimes escape 
by twisting its body round until the hook is wrenched from: 
the jaws or the cord broken. It uses the same expedient 
when it seizes its enemy, and thus sometimes inflicts a very 
dangerous wound. It will draw itself overboard by the help 
of its tail; but is disabled by a blow on the vent. 
XIPHIAS. 
Siokdish. X. Gladius.—T have not seen this fish taken, Dut it 
O often met with by fishermen. 
AMMODYTES. 
