20 ORIGIN OF THE SILVER EEL. 



CHAPTER II. 



MY next experiment was upon the eels 

 themselves. I went in search of a glass globe 

 with a wide mouth, and put two of them into 

 it. They both died. I now tried to ascer- 

 tain when the beetle began to shew signs 

 of pregnancy. I collected a large number 

 of them, and kept them in a box among 

 moss kept moist with water. I could 

 see about January the pregnant ones 

 beginning to grow thicker about the ab- 

 domen, and by March, on opening some 

 of them, I could perceive signs of life in 

 the eels and a change of colour ; by April, 

 I have taken them alive out of the beetle, 

 and kept them alive two weeks among 

 water. These experiments led me to believe 

 that the period of gestation is about ten 

 months, which corresponds with that of the 

 salmon and trout, and all fish that spawn 

 once a year. 



