47 
opinion of this eminent physiologist had a most unfortunate 
result in discouraging inquiries, and it was not until about 
thirty years subsequently that Professor Raruxe, of Kénigsberg, 
re-investigated the subject, and re-discovered what Monprn1 
had elucidated more than half a_century previously. But 
although this last naturalist, at least in Germany, has been 
regarded as the discoverer of the female generative organs of 
the Hel, he really merely confirmed Monprn1’s observations. 
Naturalists having conclusively arrived at the point that 
female Hels had been found, became rather mystified, as they 
could not understand where they had to look for the male 
element, so the idea took root that these fishes might be 
hermaphrodites, and this raised the anatomist’s curiosity as to 
how such could be proved. It was now observed that, in addition 
to the frill-shaped band, the undoubted ovaries which contained 
eggs, there was a second fatty band running along one side of 
the intestines, and here spermatozoids or milt were said to have 
been discovered. This, it was supposed, solved the difficulty ; 
but, unfortunately for this theory, it was ascertained that the 
microscopists had been in error. What had been mistaken for 
spermatozoids were, in fact, fatty cells or crystalline bodies, 
which latter substances are not infrequently present in fat. 
This left the question still unsettled; the female was known, 
but so far the male had been entirely overlooked. 
It was not until November 29, 1873, that Syrsx1, at Trieste, 
obtained an Hel nearly sixteen inches in length, and in which 
he observed that, besides. being deficient in ovaries, it was 
possessed of an undescribed organ, which he correctly concluded 
must be those of the male, thus disposing of the hermaphrodite 
theory. Since that period many have been discovered, and it 
has been remarked that they are generally of a smaller size 
than the females.* 
* On the other hand, Dr Gtnrurr, in his “ Introduction to the Study of 
Fishes,” (1880,) disposed. of the investigations on the breeding of Eels, made 
up to that period, remarking :—‘‘ Their mode of propagation is still unknown. 
So much only is certain, that they do not spawn in fresh water, that many full- 
grown individuals, but not all, descend rivers during the winter months, and 
that some of them spawn in brackish water, or in deep water in the sea.” 
Likewise, in opposition to most observers, he stated that “‘ The majority of the 
