7Ai PISCES— EEL. 



the coast of Greenland, in the beginning of summer, where they resort to 

 spawn. Their roe is remarkably large, and the Greenlanders boil it to a 

 pulp for eating. They are extremely fat, but not admired in England, being 

 both flabby and insipid. 



ORDER VIII. — MAL ACOPTER YGII APODES. 



These fishes have the body elongated, with thick skin, and destitute of 



ventral finsi 



THE EEL.i 



The common eel is a very singular fish in several things that relate to its 

 natural history, and in some respects borders on the nature of the reptile 

 tribe. 



It is knovvTi to quit its element, and, during night, to wander along the 

 meadows, not only for change of habitation, but also for the sake of prey, 

 feeding on the snails it finds in its passage. 



During winter, it beds itself deep in the mud, and continues in a state of 

 rest like the serpent kind. It is very impatient of cold, and will eagerly 

 take shelter in a wisp of straw, flung into a pond in severe weather, which 

 has sometimes been practised as a method of taking them. Albertus goes 

 so far as to say, that he has known eels to shelter in a hay-rick, yet all 

 perished through excess of cold. 



The eyes are placed not remote from the end of the nose ; the irides are 

 tinged with red ; the under jaw is longer than the upper ; the teeth are 

 small, sharp, and numerous ; beneath each eye is a minute orifice ; at the 

 end of the nose two others, small, and tubular. This fish is furnished with 

 a pair of pectoral fins, rounded at their ends ; another narrow fin on the 

 back, uniting with that of the tail ; and the anal fin joins it in the same 

 m3.nner beneath. Behind the pectoral fins is the orifice to the gills, which 

 are concealed in the skin. 



Eels vary much in their colors, from a sooty hue, to a light olive-green ; 

 and those which are called silver eels have their bellies white, and a remarka- 

 ble clearness throughout. 



^ An^uilla vulgaris, Cvv. This a;enus has the body rounded, elongated, smooth: 

 bronchial openings lateral, placed under the pectoral fins ; pectoral fins large ; dorsal and 

 anal fins united, and forming a pointed caudal fin. 



