192 COMMON EEL. Class IV. 



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 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 some- 

 times 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. 



It has been observed, that in the river Nyne,\ 

 there is a variety of small eel, with a lesser head 

 and narrower mouth than the common kind, that 

 they are found in clusters in the bottom of the 

 river, and are called Bed-eels: these are some- 

 times roused up by violent floods, and are never 

 found at that time with meat in their stomachs. 

 This bears such an analogy with the clustering 

 of blindworms in their quiescent state, that we 



* Gesner pise. 45. 



f Mortons Hist. Nvrthampt. 410). Pliny observes, that the 

 eels of the lake Benacus collect together in the same manner in 

 the month of Octolcr, possibly to retreat from the winter's cold. 

 Lib. ix. c. 22. 



