476 KEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [14] 



ford,* Mass., had, in December, 1878, discovered male eels of the variety 

 Anguilla bostoniensis, having fully developed seminal cells with sper- 

 matozoids, which, under the microscope, could be seen moving about in a 

 lively manner. Unfortunately, this glorious news was soon proved to 

 be incorrect. In No. 26, April 21, 1879, of the " Zoologische Anzeiger" 

 there was a notice to the effect that the American observer had been 

 deceived by Brown's molecular movement of the particles, and had 

 mistaken the grains of the yolk of the egg for spermatozoids.t 



III. 



THE EEL QUESTION (CONCLUDED). — JOURNEY OF THE AUTHOR TO 

 COMACCHIO, AND RESULTS OF HIS INVESTIGATIONS. — COMPARA- 

 TIVE STATEMENT OF ALL THE DOUBTFUL QUESTIONS AND DIF- 

 FERENT OPINIONS REGARDING- THEM. 



Late in the autumn of 1877 I undertook a journey to Comacchio, 

 going from Trieste by sea via Eavenna. Convinced by my own experi- 

 ence of the difficulty of the questions which had yet to be solved, I did 

 not set out with very sanguine expectations as to the prospect of finding 

 fully-matured eels, both pregnant females and males containing semen. 

 My chief object, from the very beginning, was to find out — 



(1) Whether among the eels which in autumn migrate to the sea any 

 sign could be discovered pointing to a preparation for the act of propa- 

 gation ; 



(2) Whether, and if so to what degree, eels with the Syrski organ par- 

 ticipate in these migrations; and, finally, 



(3) If possible, to catch some eels which had migrated to the sea, with 

 a view of comparing their organs of generation with those of the lagoon 

 eels. 



With regard to the first two questions I was able to solve the problem 

 which I had set myself, and I have succeeded in discovering a new and 

 interesting fact; but as to the last question, all my eager endeavors 

 have proved futile. 



I found, first of all, that the eels which migrate to the sea in autumn 

 take no food during this period. The stomachs of the many hundreds 

 of eels which I caught during their migration were, on examination, 

 invariably found empty. All the fishermen and officials of the Comac- 

 chio lagoons are well acquainted with the fact that the eels take no food 

 luring this period. In contradistinction to this the stomachs of those eels 

 which do not migrate but remain in the lagoon, both of those which are 



[ * These eels were taken by Mr. Edwards at his home, Woods Holl, Mass.— Ed. ] 

 t "Zoologische Anzeiger," by J. V. Cams, No. 26, April 21, 1879, p. 193, under " Liter- 

 vture " : Packard, A. S. " The breeding habits of the eel." "A correction in the 'Amer- 

 .can Naturalist,' Vol. XIII, February, pp. 125, 12G: the motile bodies were not sper- 

 matozoa but yolk particles." 



