iiiny nl.><o at tliis time get a miiiihcr ol' t-els in growiiig-dross to exaiiiiiii'. -■■ 

 Tliese yellow euls are generally distinguished hy ratlier liglit colours; tlic 

 l)afk, for instance, is gray or brownish, ot'ten witli a sliadc of u greenisli 

 coiour (Green Eeh), tlie sides are ])ale lemon, tlie lælly either like the sides 

 or ol' a pure white. The large eel.s of more tlian 2 Iby. will often vary 

 froni this — about which later on. 



()n the lieads of these yellow eels (see tig. 1, 2, 5, & 10) tlie snout (in 

 front of the eyes) is much Hattened, wliile the width dift'ers verymuch; tiie 

 inferorhital space, i. e. the distance between the upper edges of the eyes. is, 

 1 dure sav, always considerablj' larger than the horizontal diameter of the 

 eyes (i. e. of tiie transparent nieiiibrane which covers the eyes), and in lar- 

 ger eels ("2;") — 30 indies loiig) generally about doulile tiiat size. \\']ieu we 

 look at the head from above (tig. 1, 2, i"), & 10 (Ij)), we see the eyes turiied 

 more upwards than sidewards, and the corners of the moutli with the 

 lips can, jiartieularly on the large eels. alniost always be seen indistinctly 

 outside tlie eyes; sometiines the corners of the niouth reach so far to the 

 sides that the liead gets some resemjjlance to tliat of certain frogs (»the 

 frog-raouthed eel«); tliis, however, is applicable only to the /arr/er, Imti femides 

 (see plate I, lig. 1 b), Tiie luuscles of the occijiut in sucli i'eniales are very 

 prominent al the nape on account of tlie Ican, lank liody (jilate I. lig. 1), 

 and the body is very .slim (plate 11, fig. 10), wliile the stomach, however, 

 when it is Hlled, can be expandeil very niuch by the food. The lad is 

 that these eels are very voracious, and they are cauglit, particularly in the 

 summer-time, in great nuinbers on luioks baited with small living tishes: 

 (U)hiid<p (Gohins niger) or young burbots in tlieir first year; in fresh water 

 other little hslies are used to eatcli them, for instance the perch. As the 

 head does not dwindle down in the same degree as the body when an ed 

 grows thiii. and as the eel in this period, in which it eats niuch, iiiakes 

 great use of its iiiamlibiilary nuiscles. the head of these tliin eels liccoines 

 strikingl}- large, and seems still larger than it is. Analogies lo this are wdl 

 knowii, from codfish as wdl as from human beings, wliose beads become 

 strikingly large when they grow thin. The iishermen then say that »the 

 eels have heads«, aud they know very well that this is no recommendation 

 with the lish-niongers; but as these eels are always large, generally •'z, — 

 1—2 — 3 Ibs. a piecc, they are paid, nevertheless, far liettcr than the little 

 yellow seine-eels, wliicii often on an average weigh oiily ',,-, — '/,; Ib. 



It seems to \<v the winter, jiarticularly, which produces these lean eels; 

 for tlicy oceui' in the greatest number as sooii as the water is growing warm 

 in the early summer, and are then very voracious. Later in Ihe year they 



