CHAP, ii.j NATUKAL HISTORY OF THE EEL. 47 



are admitted to the lagoon by means of the Grand Palotta 

 Canal, which extends from the port of Magnavacca right 

 through the great body of the waters, with branches stretching 

 to the chief fishing stations which dot the surface of this 

 inland sea, so that there are about a hundred mouths always 

 ready to vomit into the lagoon the salt water of the Adriatic. 



The entire industry of this unique place is founded on a 

 knowledge of the natural history of the particular fish which 

 is so largely cultivated there viz. the eel. Being a migatory 

 fish, the eel is admirably adapted for cultivation, and being 

 also very prolific and of tolerably rapid growth it can be 

 speedily turned into a source of great profit. About the end 

 of the sixteenth century we know that the annual income 

 derived from eel -breeding in the lagoons was close upon 

 12,000 a very large sum of money at that period. No 

 recent statistics have been made public as to the money 

 derived from the eels of Comacchio, but I have reason to know 

 that the sum has not in any sense diminished during late years. 



The inhabitants of Comacchio seem to have a very correct 

 idea of the natural history of this rather mysterious fish. They 

 know exactly the time when the animal breeds, which, as well 

 as the question how it breeds, has in Britain been long a 

 source of controversy, as I have already shown ; and these 

 shrewd people know very well when the fry may be expected 

 to leave the sea and perform their montee. They can measure 

 the numbers, or rather estimate the quantity, of young fish as 

 they ascend into the lagoon, and consequently are in a posi- 

 tion to know what the produce will eventually be, as also the 

 amount of food necessary to be provided, for the fish-farmers 

 of Comacchio do not expect to fatten their animals out of no- 

 thing. However, they go about this in a very economic way, 

 for the same water that grows the fish also grows the food on 

 which they are fed. This is chiefly the aquadelle, a tiny 

 little fish which is contained in the lakes in great numbers, 



