TENTH ANNUAL MEETING. TIQ 
very fatty, cuff-shaped organ, a thin, scummy, slightly folded 
membrane, not at all fatty, often as transparent as glass, and of 
about the same proportional size as the so-called cuff-shaped 
organ. When this membrane is examined under the microscope 
there may be seen in it eggs very transparent in appearance, 
with yolk-dots absent or with yolk-dots very small and few. 
This organ appears to be an abnormally-developed ovary incap- 
able of fertilization. These sterile females, which I found of all 
sizes, even up to, the length. .of 27 inches, present all. of \the 
acknowledged female characters in great prominence and in an 
exaggerated degree; the snout is broader, and often, especially 
at the tip of the under jaw, extraordinarily broad; the dorsal fins 
are, on the average, higher; the eyes are much smaller, especially 
in large specimens, and the coloring is clearer; the back of a 
clearer green and the belly yellower than in the normal female. 
The flesh of these sterile females has a very delicate flavor, and 
quite different from that of other eels. I was quite astonished 
at the fine flavor when I tasted them for the first time in Comac- 
chio. The flesh, as the expression goes, melts upon the tongue. 
It is even possible to distinguish them while living, by feeling 
them with the hand, their soft bodies being very different from 
the hard, solid, muscular flesh of the others. 
“In Comacchio these eels are called ‘ Pasciuti.’ Coste called 
them ‘Priscetti,’ and defined them to be those eels which had 
not become ripe, but which were at least a pound in weight. 
The name ‘Priscetti’ is, however, very. incorrect, as I have 
| ; 
A.—Sterile female or Pasciuti. | B. Normal Female. | C.—Eels with supposed male 
organs. 
| a | b | | a. | b. | | a | b 
I 508 10 I 511 | 8 I ak 2 
II 480 8.5 II 497 7 Il 480 6 
III 458 11 III 465 9 Ill 470 6 
IV 443 9 IV 447 7 IV 445 5 
Vv 426 8.5 Vv 425 6 oe ee 5 
VI 408 8 VI 407 6 VI 403 &5 
VII 395 111 vu 396 7 VII 396 5.5 
become convinced by questioning the fish inspectors and by 
hearing the conversations of the fishermen. ‘Pasciuto’ means 
‘pastured, and the fishermen understand by this, those eels 
