EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING. 39 
and not caught or marketed, and even a difference is sup- 
posed to exist in their appearance. But these suppositions 
are not borne out by proof, and eels are found during the fall 
with neither milt nor spawn. These may be barren, or spent; 
but they may also be males, and should be examined anatomi- 
cally under the microscope to see whether traces can be found 
of genital organs. This is merely a suggestion, as I have no 
opinion to offer on so curious a question ; but as it is a possi- 
bility, it should not be neglected. 
I have not referred to an article which appeared lately in a 
monthly periodical, claiming to have discovered the milt in 
eels, for the reason that it was so wholly unsatisfactory to me, 
seeming little more than an attempt to appropriate undeserved 
credit, and one of those discoveries, as far as it was correct af 
all, of what had already been discovered. It omitted any refer- 
ence to Professor Baird’s statements, which had been announced 
some nine months previously, and ignored wholly the investiga- 
tions of Mr. Blackford, with which the public were familiar 
through the newspapers. But more than this, the account is con- 
fused and unsatisfactory in every particular, assertion taking the 
place of fact, contradictions being numerous, and the language 
inaccurate, and at the close the writer admits the uncertainty of 
his own conclusions, as they are totally at variance with those 
of Dr. Syrski, who had already shown that what he claimed to 
be milt, or spermatozoa, were merely undeveloped eggs. But 
leaving anatomical questions to be setttled by others, as fish- 
culturists we know that eels containing ripe milt have never 
been seen, and until we can get the milt in that condition it is 
of no value to us. For our purposes one of the first things to 
do is to study these fish more carefully at night, which is the 
time they seem to prefer for many of their movements. 
Since the foregoing was written, an article has appeared in 
the February number of the same periodical, in which it is ad- 
mitted that the previous statements were an error, and that “the 
male sex has yet to be discovered” among eels. My conclu- 
sions were fully borne out by subsequent investigation. During 
the month of February, 1879, however, spent-eels have been 
found in New York market. It could not be determined from 
