306 MUR^NIDyE. 



The flesh is not in much estimation, but meets a ready 

 sale at a low price among the lower classes. Formerly a 

 very considerable quantity was prepared by drying in a par- 

 ticular manner, and exported to Spain : Bayonne also re- 

 ceived a part. When thus dried, the flesh was ground or 

 grated to powder, and in this state was used to thicken soup. 



Congers spawn in December or January; and the dis- 

 tinction of the sexes is obvious on the examination of the 

 roe during the cold months. Small ones, about the size of 

 a man's finger, are found among rocks, close to land, during 

 the summer. The small Eels which ascend the Severn in 

 such numbers in the spring, and were considered by Wil- 

 lughby and Pennant as the young of the Conger, are in 

 reality the young of fresh- water Eels. 



The adult fish is most voracious, not sparing even those 

 of its own species. From the stomach of a specimen weigh- 

 ing twenty-five pounds, I took three common Dabs, and a 

 young Conger of three feet in length. The power of the 

 jaws in this fish is very great : in the stomach of small spe- 

 cimens examined on the coast, I have found the strong tes- 

 taceous coverings of our shell-fish comminuted to fragments. 

 They are often tempted by the Crustacea entrapped in the 

 lobster-pots to enter those decoys in order to feed on them, 

 and are thus frequently captured. 



Congers acquire a very large size. Specimens weighing 

 eighty-six pounds, one hundred and four pounds, and even 

 one hundred and thirty pounds, have been recorded, some of 

 them measuring more than ten feet long, and eighteen inches 

 in circumference. They possess great strength, and often 

 prove very formidable antagonists if assailed among rocks, 

 or when drawn into a boat on a line. 



Three measurements taken from the point of the nose, as 

 in the fresh-water species, give the following proportions in 



