CIIMMON KKl,. 



1029 



rule, o]\\\ \\li(>ii tlu! WMter is turhid mIIci- ;i storm or 

 in wrt wc'itlioi'. It devours ;iimost all aniniai food, 

 live or dead, tVesli or putreiied, that it eaii swuiiow. 

 The smail h^els content themselves witii lowi-r marine 

 animals of" every kind, small crustaceans (Gannuarids), 

 worms, and mollusks. Tiieir elders begin with small 

 fishes, sueli as Sticklebacks, Sand-eels, and l.amiireys, 

 and often gorge themselves with iish-roe. In fresh 

 water they wage a ruthless war of exteriniiiatioii against 

 the crayfish, which they most appreciate just after the 

 old shell lias lieen cast, and while the new one is still 

 soft. They also attack one another; and instances are 

 recorded of the victor in these combats being suffo- 

 cated by its prey. The latter, the head of which was 

 alread)^ swallowed, had bent its tail right liack and 

 forced it out through the gill-opening of its captor. 

 Soon they do not shrink from assailing higher ani- 

 mals, such as fi'ogs, young waterfowl, and water-rats. 

 They even pui'sue the water-rats into their subaqueous 

 holes, and Eels ai'e frequently found that have turned 

 these into their own hiding-places. But vegetable 

 substances, such as grains of corn, demonstrably enter 

 into their diet"; and Feddeksen relates'' that at Copen- 

 hagen it was a [popular diversion to feed the Eels in 

 a pond in Orstcd's Park with liits of bread. The vo- 

 racity of the Eel thus renders it omnivorous. 



In this connexion we may consider an observation 

 repeated on many occasions, but as often explained 

 away or even ridiculed: — the Eel, like the aljove- 

 meutioned Climbing Perches {LabyrintMci), voluntarily 

 travels in (piest of food by land. "The Eel is said 

 sometimes by night to crawl out of the water on the 

 fields where it finds lentils, ])eas, or beans sown"', wrote 

 Albektls Macxus' ill the 13th century. "This mig- 

 ration", wrote ISock' in the 18th century, "explains 

 the mysterious fact that in Prussia and Pomerania 

 fish are caught on dry land and with the plough. 

 On wai'iii nights, when the Eels betake themselves to 

 the peas, the peasants plough a few furrows along the 

 water towards dawn, before the day has broken; and 

 these are the nets in which the Eels are taken. For, 

 though the Eel can drag itself along on the iirass, its 



retreat is cut ofl' by the u])tui-ni-d sods. llu' rustics 

 consider it a sign of a])proat'hing storm when the Eel 

 (piits the water for dry land." The Royal Museum 

 |)oss('sscs in its collection of manuscrijjts a communi- 

 cation made to Prof. li. Fkies in 1836, and relating 

 how the Dowager Countess B. M. IIa.milton in the 

 I'arlv part of the centurv instituted the most cautious 

 observations of some Eels and caused their capture 

 during theii' land excursions on her estate. They 

 wandei-ed of a night from Lake lledeidunda into a 

 field, and ate pea-pods "with a smacking sound, like 



that made by sucking-pigs when they are eating 



On investigati(jn it ^vas found that the pods were not 

 gnawed in pieces or eaten up, but that the Eels onl)' 

 consumed the outer soft and juicy skin covering the 

 young pods; and after this discovery the Eels, which 

 were kejjt at HcMlcnlunda in a live-well, were fed with 

 pea-pods."' The comraunicati(jn further contains a 

 description of the acutcness with which the Eel ap- 

 prehends the slightest noise, even on land, and the 

 ccleritv with which it then retreats to its pro]ier ele- 



B^ig. 277. Iiifr-stiiial wnnii (Auritnn labiata) of the Eel compared 

 will] a yoiiiiK Eoi of tlic same sv/.e. After Be.nECKE. 



ment. Ekstkom rejected all similar anecdotes as fa- 

 bles; Xil.s.son'' assumed that the Eel's object in these 

 journeys was the quest of a food more suitable than 

 peas, namely slugs {Lima.r). This opinion may be 

 more reasonable, but credence can no longer be re- 

 fused to the above-cited oliservations, for we have 

 evidence from other soui'ces of the Eel's taste for vege- 

 table food. 



The propagation of the Eel was a riddle for thou- 

 sands of years, and has given rise to the most mar- 

 vellous conjectures. According to Akistotle' no one 

 had found eggs in the Eel up to his time; but even 

 then its intestinal canal had been observed to contain 

 "hair-like or worm-like growths" (fig. 277), that were 



" See Trybom, Dausk Fiskeritidendc, 1885. ].. 4 11. 



'■ Same periodical, 1885, p. 341; 1891, p. 397. 



' Quoted by Siebold, 1. c, p. 314. 



•' Wirlschaftl. Naturgeschichte voii dem lumirji-eii'li OkI- iind Westpreu-isen. 1784, quoted by Benecke, 1. c, \>. 175. 



' Sk-and. Fna, Fisk., p. 669. 



^ Aiiim. Hist., lib. IV, cap. XI. 



