THE COMMON EEL THE CONGER E*EL. 359 



slow in attaining to their full size, that they. are. a" 

 longtime liable. to become a prey to others before 

 it come to their tarn to be destroyers. 



The fishes of this order are exceedingly numerous, 

 various methods of classing them have been invented 

 Jby naturalists. . As your design, my clear Sir, is to 

 study Nature only in its general appearances and 

 most striking particulars, without enteririg into those 

 minute investigations, which are compatible only with 

 a life of leisure; I have in my exhibitions of her va- 

 rious forms, endeavoured to avoid embarrassing you 

 with the multiplied distinctions of systematical writers. 

 Here, however, where the varieties of -animal life are 

 so numerous, some kind of classification is necessary, 

 in order to form distinct ideas. The simplest, as well 

 as the most luminous, seems to be that of Lirmgeus, 

 who ranks ffhem in four grand divisions, according to 

 the position of their fins. 



The first division consists of those which that cele- 

 brated naturalist denominates 



APODES 



of which the principal distinctive character is, that 

 they have no ventral fins. 



THE COMMON EEL 



is the first genus in this order, and includes a variety 

 of species. It may be considered as the most univer- 

 sal of all fishes, and is so generally known, that any 

 description of it is unnecessary. It frequents the 

 fresh waters, the ponds* ditches, and rivers of almost 

 every country, yet it is scarcely ever found in the 

 Danube, although it abounds in the lakes and rivers in 

 Upper Austria. It is a singular fish in regard to ma- 

 ny particulars of its natural history, and in some re- 

 spects bears a great resemblance to the serpent tribe. 



THE COXGER EEL 



differs in many respects from the common eel, as it 

 lives in the ocean, or at the mouth of great river?, 

 and grows to an enormous size. Some have been 

 taken which measured ten feet and a half in length, 

 and eighteen inches in circumference. The ilei ; h of 



