38 FISH CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
them in various conditions of maturity, and those first discov- 
ered by Professor Baird were far advanced, none, I believe; 
were actually ripe for emission, and until eggs are discovered in 
this condition we shall be in the dark as to the exact time of 
spawning. Bearing closely upon this question is the second 
contingency which | have mentioned, that there may be con- 
nection between the sexes of eels instead of the fecundation 
of the eggs after their extrusion. There is certainly consider- 
able evidence on one side of this question, and as yet none on 
the other. 
Mr. Andrew S. Fuller is reported, in a recently published in- 
terview, to have said that “the researches of the naturalists have 
not yet thrown light upon what are known as ‘eel-balls.’ Eels, 
like snakes, link and twist themselves together, forming large 
clusters or balls. These balls are frequently found in streams 
during the fall. The clusters are sometimes so large that they 
roll into mill races and clog the wheels of mills. Pliny speaks 
of this habit of the eel. He says in the river Mincius, in Octo- 
ber, a man may see rolling among the waves a wonderful num- 
ber of eels wound and tangled one within another, sometimes 
a thousand of them wrapped together in one ball. The object 
of their rolling themselves up in this way is a mystery. Mr. 
Roosevelt is doing his best to fathom it. It would be very in- 
teresting to know if all were of one sex, or if both joined in 
making up the mass. The careful examination and dissection 
of every specimen in one of these clusters might throw some 
light upon the relation of the sexes, about which there is still 
much that is obscure.” 
The creatures referred to above may not be eels, but if they 
are the explanation would seem to be that which is intimated 
by Mr. Fuller, namely, the sexual act. I have never seen this 
operation, and cannot vouch for it; but other persons, even in 
this country, have asserted it in the course of the discussions 
brought out by the investigations commenced by the Fish 
Cultural Association. No male eels have yet been discov- 
ered, that is, no eels containing mult... It has been /sug- 
gested that the males may be much smaller than the females 
