30 ORIGIN OF THE SILVER EEL. 



so formed by their length and serpent-like 

 motion as easily to glide through the 

 thickets of grass and rushes. 



4. I have opened eels at all seasons of 

 the year, but never could find milt or roe 

 in one of them. On this point I have con- 

 sulted many anglers, and of the existence of 

 such a thing they were equally ignorant. 

 To me there appears no arrangement for 

 anything like productive parts in the crea- 

 ture. I therefore conclude the Silver Eel to 

 be a NEUTER. It is my opinion that there 

 are a few of the smaller animals that 

 produce neuters, and these are to be in- 

 cluded among the characteristics of the 

 class from which they spring, e.g., the bee 

 and the ant, the eel-beetle, and the other 

 beetle previously described, and the prickly 

 bog minnow. I was informed by a veteran 

 angler that the prickly bog minnow was the 

 progenitor of the horse leech, and that he 

 himself had taken them alive out of them 

 with his knife. I may also add to the above 

 list a small tufted caterpillar, whose nature 

 and habits have engaged my attention for 

 some time. It feeds on the lime-tree, and 

 produces eggs while in the caterpillar 



