THE EEL. 337 



of the spine, and the free or loose floating edge is therefore thrown into 

 creases or plaits like a frill. 



" It is probably from this folded or convoluted appearance the sexual 

 organs of the eel have frequently been called fringes. By the kind- 

 ness of my friends Mr. Clift and Mr. Owen, of the Royal College 

 of Surgeons, I have had the pleasure of seeing some drawings be- 

 longing to the collection of John Hunter, in which these peculiarities 

 of the sexual organs in the eel are beautifully exhibited in various 

 magnified representations." The representations, unfortunately, do not 

 now exist. 



Adding a seal, as it were, to this decisively expressed dictum, Couch 

 says also : " The error was caused by expecting to find in their (the 

 eels) bodies a close resemblance of the milt and the roe of most other 

 fishes, to which, however, their organs of propagation bear in some par- 

 ticulars but a distant likeness." He goes on to describe the organs 

 and their position in a manner almost identical with that of Jesse 

 it need not therefore be repeated here and adds: "That the small 

 grains embedded within their soft and greasy covering are truly the 

 spawn of the fish, is proved by the examination I have been enabled to 

 make, as also by the inquiries of other observers. Thus, a portion of 

 this roe was placed under a microscope, when there were distinguished 

 a large number of globular grains, some of which, according to the 

 notes then made, ' were a hundred times larger than others, from whence 

 the conclusion is that some are approaching maturity, and that their 

 exclusion is in succession,' a fact rendered certain by repeated obser- 

 vation. It is added, it is impossible to imagine that all these could 

 have been hatched within the body, and still less without the circum- 

 stance having been long since ascertained. The small size of the orifice 

 of egress is also a proof of the same thing." 



The same observer goes on to clinch the matter by quoting the com- 

 munication of his son, E. G. Couch, to the Zoologist, 1847, page 1830 : 

 "Last summer I took a quantity of mud from a spot much frequented 

 by eels, and carefully examined it to see if there were any ova in it ; and 

 after testing several specimens without success, I was at least gratified 

 by observing the eels, small and transparent, lying on the surface almost 

 motionless. They rapidly grew, and in ten days acquired strength and 

 size to swim about." 



Of the verity of these conclusions I have not the slightest particle of 

 doubt, and my readers may rest assured that they are correct. I have 

 proved them. The magnificent opportunities which the lakes of Windsor 

 Great Park afforded me during nearly two years for observation were 

 sufficient to enable me to examine the spawn and milt of eels repeatedly, 



Z 



