486 FISHES. 



winter, but appear in spring, and bite readily at the book, which 

 common eels in that neighbourhood will not. They have a 

 larger head, a blunter nose, thicker skin, and less fat than the 

 common sort ; neither are they so much esteemed, nor do they 

 often exceed three or four pounds in weight 



Common eels grow to a large size, sometimes so great as to 

 weigh fifteen or twenty pounds, but that is extremely rare. As to 

 instances brought by Dale and others, of these fish increasing to a 

 superior magnitude, we have much reason to suspect them to have 

 been congers, since the enormous fish they describe have all been 

 taken at the mouths of the Thames or Med way. 



The eel is the most universal of fish, yet it is scarce ever found 

 in the Danube, though it is very common in the lakes and rivers of 

 Upper Austria. 



The Romans held this fish very cheap, probably from its like- 

 cess to a snake. 



Vos anguilla manet Ionga? cognata colubrae, 

 Vernula riparam pinguis torrente cloaca. 



Juvenal, Sat. v. 



For you is kept a sink-fed snake-like eel. 



On the contrary, the luxurious Sybarites were so fond of these 

 fish, as to exempt from every kind of tribute the persons who sold 

 them. 



[Pennant, 



SECTION II. 



SwordmFish. 



Xiphias Gladys. Linn. 



This is a native of the Mediterranean, and is mostly found in 

 the Sicilian sea; grows to a very large size, sometimes measuring 

 twenty feet in length ; and is of an active and predacious disposi- 

 tion, feeding on the smaller kind of fishes, which it kills by pierc- 

 ing with its sword.shaped snout. The body is long, round, and 

 gradually tapers towards the tail: the head flattish, the mouth 



