ANGUILLA VULGARIS. 379 



In rivers Eels are commonly taken at weirs with wicker baskets, known as 

 Eel-bucks, which have a sugar-loaf form. Nets are also used, set across the 

 stream on dark nights, when the Eels run. When captured with a line the baited 

 hooks are sunk to the bottom. The fishes are also largely taken by spearing, 

 especially in the winter, when they frequently hybernate, and the Eel-spear is 

 put through the shallow water into the mud ; or occasionally they are dug out 

 when the disappearance of frost on the banks indicates their presence. The 

 most celebrated fisheries on the Continent are those of Comacchio, near 

 Venice, from whence they are sent all over Italy. At Elbceuf, on the Seine, 

 Eels are taken in great numbers, and the fame of Narbonne, in the south of 

 France, is not less for its Eels than for its honey. The English market is 

 largely supplied from Holland. They are rarely eaten in Scotland, and are 

 not eaten by the Jews. 



The flesh is highly prized, firm, and can be cooked in a variety of ways. 

 Eel pies were formerly in general demand, and Eel-pie Island, in the Thames, 

 is still known for the commodity from which it derives its name. 



Small Eels have always been an important item of food with the poorer 

 classes when stewed, while there are few limits to the attractions which Eels 

 may not offer in the hands of an experienced cook. 



Eels have many enemies, and are preyed upon by carnivorous fishes, water- 

 birds, and mammals which frequent streams. They are occasionally liable to 

 epidemics, and die in vast numbers. 



Their distribution in Europe is exceptional, being absent from the Danube 

 and south-east of Europe, the Black Sea, the Caspian, and rivers which flow 

 into them, though they are met with in Italy, and, according to Steindachner, 

 in the Minho, Douro, Tagus, and near Madrid in Spain. 



In a species so widely distributed, ranging through the north of Africa, 

 and, according to Giinther, found in North America, larger variation 

 might have been expected in the number of vertebra than has been 

 observed. 



In the body the vertebrae number from forty-five to forty-six, and in the 

 tail from sixty-eight to seventy-one. 



Pennant distinguished an Eel under the name of Grig, which has been long 

 known as a distinct species, Anguilla latiroslris. Its distribution is world- 

 wide, being found not only throughout Europe, but recorded in the British 

 Museum Catalogue from the Nile, China, New Zealand, and the West Indies. 

 It has no peculiarities of habit, and is not known to exceed five pounds in 

 weight ; but although the proportions are somewhat different from those of 

 the Common Eel, it may be doubted whether this broad-nosed form is more 

 than an extreme variation of the common type. 



