744 PISCES— 
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 
doth flabby and insipid. 

ORDER VIII.—MALACOPTERYGII APODES. 
Tuese fishes have the body elongated, with thick skin, and destitute of 
ventral fins. 
THE EEL. 
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 known 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 m 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, sma!l, 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 
manner 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, anda remarga- 
ble clearness throughout. 
1 Anguilla vulgaris, Cuv. This genus 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. 
