544 SUPPLEMENT ON 



when used as a fillet ; in Tartary it is employed, after having 

 been oiled, as a substitute for glass in windows. 



It is pretended that it is possible to tame eels so as to 

 make them eat from the hand, and that they are sensible to 

 music and agreeable odours. 



The name of Conger was at first given to a species of 

 eel, the Murama conger, after Aristotle and Athenaeus, who 

 had called the sea-eel Koyrpog. M. Cuvier has withdrawn 

 this fish from the genus anguilla, and made it the foundation 

 of a subgenus, under the name of conger. 



Several species are known. 



The dimensions of the common conger are superior to those 

 of the eel. It is ordinarily six or seven feet long, sometimes 

 ten or twelve, or even eighteen, according to Gesner. 



It is found in the seas of Europe, of Northern Asia, and in 

 those of America as far as the Antilles. It is very abundant 

 on the coasts of England and France, in the Mediterranean 

 Sea, where it was much sought after by the ancients, and in 

 the Propontis, where it was not long ago in considerable 

 estimation. Those of Sicyon were more especially esteemed. 



The congers are extremely voracious. They live on fish, 

 mollusca, and Crustacea ; they do not even spare their own 

 species. They are extremely fond of carrion, and are sure to 

 be found in those places into which the carcases of animals 

 have been thrown. Thev usuallv remain in ambuscade at 

 the mouths of great rivers, to seize the fish which are ascend- 

 ing or descending the stream. They twist themselves round 

 them, after the manner of serpents ; they appear to euclose 

 them, as it were in a net, and from this peculiarity is derived 

 the name of Jilat, which they receive in some ports of the 

 Mediterranean Sea. 



The congers themselves are exposed to a multitude of 

 enemies. They are pursued with ardour and perseverance 



