MY GARDEN. 



formerly I was familiar with many of their habits by watching them 

 in the river Lea, where they used to abound. They delight to live 

 in holes in vertical banks against which the stream sets. They look 

 out to see what passes, when with the velocity of lightning they dart 

 out and seize their prey, and retire with it into their den. If an eel- 

 hole is found, the eel will generally, but not always, take a worm : 

 if it refuses, it pushes the worm out of its hole, but may be tried 

 another day. Sometimes the eel takes a promenade, and on warm 

 evenings roams over the shallows to catch the young fish. It always 

 returns to its home, where it may be visited over and over again, till 

 it is caught. An electrical state of the atmosphere makes eels very 

 lively and active. 



The species caught at our garden is the sharp-nosed eel. 



Herodotus states that the Nile also produces the eel, which was sacred 

 to that river. 



The Lampern (Petfontyzon fluviatilis, fig. 1102) visits my little 

 streams in January and February, but their object in coming is not 

 apparent. On warm days half a score or more amuse themselves 

 with making a hole in the gravel, but for what purpose I cannot ex- 

 plain. Sometimes they select a spot near a trout spawn-bed, and some- 



FJG. 1 102. La 



FIG. 1103. Structure of Carti'age 

 in the Lampern. 



times another spot. Their motions are very graceful, and if they swim 

 away for a short distance they return to the same hollow depression. 

 When in the act of making this depression, their agility, and the power 

 which they exhibit, are prodigious. They seize hold of a stone with their 

 mouth, which is formed like a sucker, and then by a violent wriggling 

 of the tail contrive to remove it. They may visit us for the purpose 



