40 FISH: CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
what part of the country these were obtained, so the time of 
their spawning, as affected by locality, is not certain, but the 
membrane of the ovaries was clearly visible, and was lax and 
empty, and the extrusion must have been just completed. 
Turning to another peculiarity about eels, the fish-culturist 
will observe that there is one common inconsistency about them. 
Mature eels can be transported readily, packed in barrels, and 
will live twenty-four to forty-eight hours without water. They 
are capable of great endurance treated in this way, although 
they will not live in stagnant ponds, but the young are exceed- 
ingly delicate, and cannot be carried any distance without fre- 
quent changes of water. From my experience, I should say 
they would die as quickly as young trout, although the Michi- 
gan Commissioners claim they can be transported in mud 
mixed with water-grasses. They grow rapidly and feed freely 
on one another. I have seen salmon fry choked’ by trying to 
swallow an eel of two inches in length, and I have opened an 
eel of nine inches, whose stomach was swelled out into a round 
protuberance by the number of little eels which it contained. 
They eat all manner of little fish, and almost any sort of food. 
The fry when they first appear are like white threads in the 
water, but in two weeks they are dark on the back and yellow- 
ish on the belly. The run of the fry on Long Island begins 
April 1st, and closes entirely by May 24th. As to their increase 
in size later in their life, we have the testimony of Mr. Wells, 
who placed some twenty thousand in a fresh-water pond which 
had no outlet. In a printed letter to the Forest and Stream he 
makes the following statements: 
“RIVERHEAD, N 
OY. Aug, -E4Aaegee 
“T do not know about their spawning. There are other fish, 
pickerel, pumpkin-seeds, and yellow perch, who may eat the 
spawn. My eels are so tame that you can hold a horsefoot by 
the tail just under the water, and all that can get their heads 
into it will do so. You may catch them in your hands (if you 
can hold them). They have grown this summer, some from 
twelve to a pound, to six pounds a dozen, dressed. They gain 
very fast while feeding. Now they are very fat. They will eat 
