680 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



Schleswig-Holstein, fertilized the eggs of the river Lamprey aud placed them in a breeding box. 

 Between June 3 aud June 16, many young were hatched out, and on July 17 the entire contents of 

 the breeding box escaped. 1 



As has already been stated, it requires four or five years for the larval Lamprey to undergo 

 its metamorphoses and become capable of reproducing its kind. The sea Lamprey, P. marinm, 

 often attains the length of three feet; but those species which are found only in fresh water are 

 usually much smaller. 



The name Petromyzon signifies " a stone-sucker," it being a common habit of these auimals to 

 cling to stoues and pebbles. In swift currents this habit is of great importance to them, since it 

 enables them to hold their own where their swimming powers would often be severely taxed. It 

 is stated by careful observers that they have some way of transporting stones, and that they build 

 nests, or rather circular fortifications of stonework, around the crevices in which they lurk. As 

 may be inferred from what has already been said of the manner in which they prey upon other 

 fishes, Lampreys are among the most troublesome enemies of many large species. Giinther states 

 that salmon have often been captured in the middle courses of the Rhine with marine Lampreys 

 attached to them. Milner, in his "Report on the Fisheries of the Great Lakes," 2 remarks: (> A 

 parasite that troubles the sturgeon is the Lamprey Eel, Petromyzon argenteus, Kirt., which is found 

 very frequently attached to the skin. The circular scars aud raw sores sometimes found upon the 

 sturgeon, and attributed to this cause by the fishermen, are correctly accounted for in this way. 

 It is probable that their natural food is the slime or mucus exuded in abundance from the pores, 

 but they frequently retain their hold upon a spot until they have eaten through to the flesh, and 

 deep ulcerous cavities occasionally result from the sore." 



ECONOMIC USES AND CAPTURE. The Lamprey was formerly highly esteemed as an article 

 of food, and iu early days is said to have constituted an important dish in certain civic feasts of 

 Europe. It was once the custom to drown Lampreys in wine and then to stew them. This process 

 was supposed to impart a higher flavor to the flesh. It is stated by Lacepede that King Henry I, 

 of England, came to an untimely end by too full a repast of Lampreys. At the present time, in 

 Germany and France, they are cooked in earthenware jars with vinegar and spices, and are fre- 

 quently seen among the relishes aud hors-d'oeuvre brought upon the tables as a preliminary course. 

 They are also highly esteemed in many other parts of the continent. At present in this country 

 Lampreys are but little prized, except in certaiu portions of New England, particularly along the 

 Connecticut River. Col. Theodore Lyman, in his report as fish commissioner of Massachusetts for 

 1876, 3 states that the Lamprey Eel is a fish greatly esteemed by the country people of Massachusetts, 

 and one which was formerly taken in almost incredible numbers in the Merrimack. It was found as 

 far north as Plymouth, New Hampshire, and by the Connecticut Hiver also it passes into the same 

 State. When the Saiut Lawrence dam, in 1847, was first completed, several cart-loads were daily 

 taken by one man for a considerable period. In 1840 Mr. Joseph Ely took thirty-eight hundred in 

 one night at Hadley Falls. It was then the custom of the country for each family to salt down 

 several barrels of Lampreys for winter use. " Now, in 1866," he continues, " this valuable fish has 

 become nearly extinct in both rivers." This remark should be interpreted as applying simply to 

 the headwaters of the Connecticut, since in the tributaries of its lower stretches there is still a 

 considerable lamprey fishery and a large local consumption. 



Mr. George Lyou, of Bridgewater, Connecticut, writes under date of August 25, 1879 : 



'Circnlar der Deutschen Fischerei-Verein, 1879, pp. 135, 136, 159. 

 'Report United States Fish Commission, part ii, 1874, p. 74. 

 3 Page 40. 



