518 AMERICAN FISHES. 
soft bodies being very different from the hard, solid, muscular flesh of the 
others.” 
As a rule, there is no difficulty in distinguishing between female and male 
Eels. The former attain a much larger size, the latter scarcely ever reaching 
a length of 17 inches. The male also has generally a more pointed snout, 
larger eyes, a white belly, and a lower dorsal fin. ‘These characters, how- 
ever, do not always hold good. 
The Eels grow in nearly the usual proportionate rate for about four years, 
reaching by that time a length of about two feet, but they continue to 
increase in a diminishing ratio for an indefinite time. 
There is a greater demand for the Eel in Europe than in America, many 
in this country having a prejudice against it, apparently simply because of 
its serpentiform aspect. It affords, however, a savory as well as substantial 
item of food. Chemical analysis shows that it excels most fishes in the 
percentage of nutrients (nearly 23 per cent), protein (14.8 per cent), 
and fats (7.2 per cent); it therefore affords an unusually large edible or 
nutritious portion. 
Not only is the Eel in greater demand in Europe, but it is the object of 
extensive culture in that continent, numerous establishments, in most of the 
continental countries, devoting special attention to the fish. The collection 
and sale of the Elvers or young ascending Eels is a regular occupation. 
They are “sent considerable distances, packed in moist grass” or in the 
aquatic plant called Potamogeton, \ayers of the plants and Eels being alter- 
nated. The French fish-culturist, Millet, found that a “kilogram of young 
Eels placed in an extensive peat-bog near the river Aisne” gave in five 
years a crop of “2,500 kilograms of large Eels.” The culture with such 
results is quite profitable. In the United States, however, scarcely any 
attention is paid to Eel-raising, the fishermen relying on unaided nature 
to supply their wants. 
Much like an ordinary Eel in form and color is one whose home is always 
in the sea, and which prefers deep water and a rocky bottom. It is the 
Conger or Conger Eel of the English and is common along the southern 
English and other European coasts. It is comparatively rare along the 
American coast or at least is rarely caught. At Wood’s Hole, where it has 
been most observed, it is a summer visitor, arriving about July and remain- 
ing till the early fall has been passed. The fishermen do not as a rule 
distinguish it by a special name from the common Eel and designate it as 
a big Eel, but the big Eels are dreaded, for their strength is great and their 
teeth are trenchant and strong. 
