24 ORIGIN OF THE SILVER EEL. 



in the previous May. I allowed the water to 

 rise in the well again, and each once more 

 took refuge in the spring. Now, however, 

 they were finely proportioned, and as finely 

 formed as if they had been ten years old. 

 In May I again emptied the well, and they 

 appeared. They measured three-sixteenths 

 of an inch in diameter and about six inches 

 in length, perfectly formed in every part, 

 and could swim as quick as thought if I 

 dared to touch them. As I wished to keep 

 them another year to note the progress of 

 their growth, I made another reservoir 

 below the well, where they were kept from 

 May 1834 to May 1835, with the object of 

 preserving them to May 1836. This time 

 I made the well larger, and used wire cloth 

 as formerly for the escape of the water. 

 This cloth was sufficiently small in the 

 mesh to keep all other fish out, and prevent 

 the escape of the eels. I put a frame of 

 wood round the whole to make sure no 

 other eel could enter, and deposited two flat 

 stones at the bottom of the well to afford 

 them a retreat in case of danger. Here 

 I kept them till May 1836, when I emptied 



