" SLIPPERY AS AN EEL." 205 



electric eels, whose ribs encircle the body, and whose fin- 

 rays are duly jointed. The gill-openings, in the eel, are 

 remarkably small, and are placed far back, so that the 

 duct from the air-chamber to the mouth is of considerable 

 length. Thus the gills can retain their humidity for 

 some time, and the eel remain out of water without suf- 

 fering any inconvenience. Hence, too, its respiration is 

 slow and feeble. This is a characteristic of the reptiles, 

 to which, in form, the eel is closely allied, and is accom- 

 panied both in them and in the eel by an extraordinary 

 tenacity of life, a tenacity which has become proverbial. 

 We need not believe, however, the story told by Gesner, 

 of an Englishman who had seen an eel come nine times 

 alive out of the trail of a raven, absolutely refusing to be 

 digested ; but, when caught by a sturgeon, it has really 

 been observed to retreat backwards in the same way. 

 Its slipperiness has given rise to many a popular adage. 

 The Latins said, " Anguilla est, elabitur ; " He is an eel, 

 and he is off ! " As slippery as an eel," is a favourite 

 comparison for a sly fellow not easily kept to the truth. 

 And a Latin epigram likens life to this uncertain fish, 

 which one moment you hold in your hand, and the next 

 moment it is gone : 



"How mobile, fleet, and uncontrolled, 



Glides life's uncertain day ! 

 Who clings to it but grasps an eel, 

 That quicker slips away ! " 



The Mursenidse are marine fish; but the Anguillidae 

 or eels proper, though some of them occasionally pay a 

 visit to the sea, are fresh-water fish. Their pectoral fins 

 are of tolerable size, while their dorsal fins stretch down 

 to and wholly encompass the tail. Groups of numerous 



