10oO FISH CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
A. Eels with supposed male organs. B. Female eels. 
weet ee d. a Vi &. ee Wo c a é. VE g 
I | 480! 6 1B-5|b lS 8 59 Pease Gees de, ap, eekids aS §2 9 
II | 470) 6 10.5} 12 if 54 6 | 475} 7.5) 14.5) 16 8 59 9.5 
III | 445] 5 11 12 6; 47 6 | 440) 8 12 14 5 56 7.5 
SRN MALTS id g 12 5.5 47 6 | 410) 8 12.5) 13 (dalle tau va 
Vi |. 386) 4.5 9 12 5.5 46 AP SxS ieee.) all 12 5 49 "V5 
FI 370) *3°5 " 10.5 5 40 6 | 369} 7.5) 11 13 Geb), S15 va 
VII | 344) 4 7.5) 10 4.5 40 5 | 342) 6 8 11 4.5| 44 6.5 
VIII 319} 4 fi 10 5 40 45) 3138) 5.5 8 10.5 3) 4 6 
According to the distinguishing marks which have been given, 
special reference having been paid to the height and narrowness 
of the dorsal fin, much success has been met with in picking 
out, in the fish-market of Trieste, the eels which possessed the 
organ of Syrski; absolute certainty in recognizing them cannot, 
however, be guaranteed. If one is searching among living eels 
with no characters in mind with the exception of the first—that 
of length—he will find in every ten eels, on an average, eight 
females, and two with the supposed male organ; but, if the 
selection is made with a careful reference to all these marks of 
difference, the proportion changes, and out of every ten mre 
ples about eight will be found with the supposed male organ. 
For another excellent discussion with figures of the characters 
of male and female eels, the reader is referred to a translation 
of an article by S. Th. Cattie, in the Proceedings of the U.S. 
National Museum, vol. ili, pp. 280-4. 
QUESTION AS TO THE -VIVIPAROUS NATURE OF EELS.—BENECKE. 
The discovery of the two sexes has not, however, writes Be- 
necke, settled the question whether the eel lays eggs or brings 
its young alive into the world. There has always been a strong 
disposition to adopt the latter hypothesis, and there are many 
people at the present day who claim to have been present at the 
birth of young eels, or to have found a quantity of young eels 
in adult eels which have been cut open. Frequently ichthyolo- 
gists hear accounts of occurrences of this kind, and receive spe- 
cimens of supposed little eels from one to two inches in length, 
which have been kept alive for several days in a glass of water. 
These are usually thread worms, Ascaris libeata, which live by 
