^46 VERTEBRATES. 



tached to the main line by small horse-hair lines, each twenty- 

 seven inches in length. This enormous line is "shot" across the 

 GUI rent at the turn of the tide. Each boat possesses a double set 

 of lines, so that one line is "shot" and another "hauled" every 

 turn of the tide. 



The little star-like bones imbedded in the upper part of the 

 skin of this fish are very curious. The dark side of the turbot 

 is the left, on which the eyes are also placed. Reversed turbots, 

 and even turbots dark on both sides, are not at all uncommon. 



The Eels form the sub-order of the Apoda, or footless fish, 

 so called from the absence of ventral fins. These fish assume a 

 form very similar to the serpents. Although on a hasty examina- 

 tion they seem to be devoid of scales, yet when the skin is dried, 

 very minute scales may be seen through the semi-transparent 

 outer skin, and may be easily detected by carefully separating the 

 two skins. 



Eels inhabit muddy ponds and rivers, and are common in 



many canals. They are sus- 

 ceptible of cold, and con- 

 stantly descend the rivers to 



The Common Eel. , ., , . . , 



deposit their spawn in the 

 sea, after which, the young when hatched work their way up the 

 rivers, thereby precisely reversing the habits of the salmon. They 

 are capable of living out of water for a long time, and often make 

 voluntary land excursions, either for the purpose of avoiding an 

 insurmountable fall, or in search of frogs or worms, on which they 

 feed. In the winter, while they are lying torpid in the mud, mul- 

 titudes are taken by eel-spears- — ^many-pronged instruments, whose 

 prongs are feathered with recurved barbs, which, when pushed into 

 the mud, entangle the eels, and efiectually prevent their escape. 



The Conger Eel is found in all the rocky parts of the 

 British coasts, and is exceedingly common on the coasts of Corn- 

 wall. It is usually caught with a hook, the best bait of which is a 

 sand-launce, a little fish belonging to the same family as the eels, 

 and which buries itself five or six inches deep in the sand when 

 the tide ebbs, and releases itself on the next flood tide. The 



