Capt. S. E. Widdrington on the Eel. 207 



In 1840, Mr.Waterhouse having some new species of genus 

 B to describe, characterized them under the name Odontoscelis, 

 and did not call those insects Cnemacanthus simply because 

 they did not belong to that group. 



In 1841 Mr. Waterhouse is accused of partiality for his 

 own countrymen's names, in adopting the term Odontoscelis 

 instead of Cnemacanthus (a practice allowed to be of most per- 

 nicious consequences to the science) ; but both of these names 

 being given by his own countrymen, the accusation is absurd. 



Yours, &c. 



G. R. Waterhouse. 



XXVII. — On the Eel, and on the Freshwater Fish of 

 Austria. By Capt. S. E. Widdrington*, R.N. 



On the Eel. 

 In his accoimt of this genus, Mr. Yarrell quotes a writer who 

 appears to have paid some attention to the subject, and who 

 states that its susceptibility of cold prevents its inhabiting 

 various northern rivers, amongst others the Danube. Not- 

 withstanding this high authority, being aware of the habits of 

 the fish of burying itself in the mud during the winter, I con- 

 fess I was not quite satisfied with this theory, and considered 

 that if they were wanting in the Danube, some other cause 

 must be found than the one assigned. 



During a recent tour in Germany I was surprised to see eels 

 put upon the table at Wurtzburg, which is high up the Mayn, 

 and in a very cold country, during winter. I was subsequently 

 informed that they are abundant at Hanau, lower down the 

 same river, the waters of which must be at least as cold as 

 those of the Danube. 



On arriving at Vienna I mentioned the circumstance to 

 Professor Heckel, who has charge of the ichthyological de- 

 partment, who informed me that great numbers were brought 

 to Vienna from Ulm, which is high up the river, but that they 

 had never been seen lower down. Subsequent inquiry, and 

 having ascertained the very great pains which have been taken 

 in investigating the natural history of the river, satisfied me 

 that this account was true, and that it is next to impossible 

 they should not have been detected had they frequented the 

 Lower Danube. 



genus of which I published a monograph, under the name Odontoscelis — 

 unless M. Guerin is willing to use his sectional name Cnemalobus in a ge- 

 neric sense for the same group. 



* Late Cook. Read in the Section of Zoology and Botany at the meeting 

 of the British Association, Plymouth, and communicated by the Author. 



