172 



Life and Immortality. 



COMMON AMERICAN EEL. 

 How It Seeks New Feeding-Grounds. 



Fish, as a rule, do not live more than a few minutes out of 

 the water. An Eel, however, will remain alive for many 

 hours, and even days, in atmospheric air, provided it is laid 

 in a damp place. Now, if one be carefully watched when 

 placed upon dry land, it will be observed to pout out the 

 cheeks on both sides of its face. Underneath this puffed- 

 out skin will be found the gills, and the skin which covers 

 them will be seen to be so arranged as to form a closed sac, 

 which the Eel fills with water, and so keeps the gill-fibres 

 moist. This wonderful contrivance enables the Eel to come 

 out of the water, and to travel, so to speak, by land. Thus 

 Eels are often found in outlying ponds of human construc- 

 tion, where they were never placed by the hand of man. 

 Finding old quarters uncomfortable, they take in a good 

 supply of water, and exchange them for the better, not by 

 repeated leaps towards the water, as some fish are known to 

 do, but by a smooth, uniform snake-like progression. 



That some fishes should leave the water and travel over- 

 land is, perhaps, not more remarkable than that some birds, 

 the ouzel for example, should leave their natural element and 

 fly into and under the water. Whoever knows the hidden 



