— 207 — 



appearance on the 15th May; but they were not half the size of the former. They con- 

 tinued to run four days. 



They return in harvest; and the particular time of their regress varies likewise 

 according to the nature of the season. In different years it may be reckoned variously 

 from the last week to the end of October." 



These reports from Scotland are of considerable interest as they show how great 

 the phenomenon may be. As to the time at which the elvers ascending from the sea 

 first show themselves is however not explained. 



Concerning the conditions on the west coast of North England as also Wales, good 

 information is given by the following notice from Dr. J. Travis Jenkins, Superintendent 

 for Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries, which I have received through the Danish 

 fisheries agent in England, Capt. A. S0lling: 



Time Elvers leave salt- 

 River . J • Largest run Remarks 

 water and go up rivers ° 



Duddon, Leven. Kent and Bela May to August July and August No regular fishery 



No regular fishery, but ai-e 

 fished for by labourers 



Ribble May and June May 



Conway April to July April No regular fishery 



Dwyfach April to July June and July No regular fishery 



Dovey and Mawddach May and June May Not fished for 



Ystwyth and Rheidol No fish can live in these waters owing to pollution from the mines 



It can be seen from this list that the ascent is obviously well-known on these coasts, 

 where the elvers are even occasionally caught and used as food. 



Faeroes. According to A. Feddersen' who has kindly handed over some speci- 

 mens to me for examination, the ascent of the elvers has also been observed at the 

 Faeroes by the district officer H. C. Müller. The specimens are typical elvers of the 

 Stage 5 and measure from 63 to 80 mm. They are but little pigmented. 



Iceland. The eel is not a very common fish at Iceland. "It occurs chiefly in the 

 south and southwest lands, especially in the low bogs round the rivers, is rare in the 

 north and north-west lands and has not at all been found in the eastern. It is characteristic, 

 that it prefers the rivers and streams into which water from hot springs flows." - That the 

 elvers ascend into the Icelandic streams is shown by various observations, which likewise 

 show that the elvers here are also of the first years ascending group. Thus, the Ice- 

 landic zoologist, B. S^mundsson, took 5 elvers at the end of March 1896 in a stream 

 at Reykjavik (length: 63, 68, 71, 71, 75 mm.) and one pelagically- on the beach at Reyk- 

 javik on April 20th, 1899 (length: 72 mm.) 3. Further, R. H0RRING in his report on the 

 fisheries investigations at Iceland with the Danish inspection-ship "Diana" writes: "In 

 Faxe Bay two small elvers were taken; the one came with the inflow from a small 

 stream in Skerjafjördr into the water-tank; this specimen which was taken in the begin- 



1 A. Feddersen, Fortsatte Aaleundersegelser, I, 1894, p. 4. 



2 Information contained in a letter to the author from Bjarni S.emundsson, December 17th, 1905. 



3 These specimens were sent me by Bj, S.EMUNDSSON. 



4 Fiskeri-Beretning for Finansaaret 1900 — 1901, udarbejdet paa Landbrugsministeriets Foranstaltning af 

 C. F. Drechsel, Kjobenhavn, 1902, p. 206. 



