290 



THE RIVER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



year, of which about IOOO tons, of the value of about 

 ;So,OOO, come from Holland. 



Mr. Willis Bund, writing of the migration of these fish, 

 says : " The first that ascend the river are called elvers ; 

 they come in March and April. Then come a larger and 

 darker form, from six to ten inches in length, called Elver- 

 boults. The next variety, from six to ten inches, are 

 termed Snigs; when still larger are called Puntcheon Eels. 

 Eels four or five to the pound go by the name of Stick 

 Eels, and if of half a pound, as Shuttings; all above this 

 weight as eels. The first eels that descend in June are 

 ' stick eels ; ' the smaller form only migrate up-stream. 

 In August and September the stick eels or shutlings arrive, 

 and during September and October the large eels descend 

 seawards. The foregoing are irrespective of forms which 

 always remain in the river, and are called Glut Eels. Their 

 heads are very large, and they are of a dark colour." 



In early times eels were supposed to be generated by 

 quite a different mode to all other fish. Aristotle supposed 

 they sprung from mud ; Pliny thought they arose from 

 fragments of the skin of their parents rubbed off against 

 the rocks ; and Helmont says : " May dew placed between 

 two pieces of turf has the same effect ; " whilst others give 

 horsehair, particularly that from the tail of a stallion, as a 

 certain recipe for forming eels. 



An eel is at once disabled by a strong blow on the 

 extreme end of the body, which, either by paralysing the 



THE CAUDAL HEART. 



spinal chord, or it may be by crushing that curious pul- 

 sating organ which is placed near the tail, and which 



