374 MANUAL FOE YOUNG SPOETSMEN. 



The Eel, Anguilla communis. — Of this fish there 

 are several varieties, but they differ so little as to require 

 no particular mention. They do not exist above the Falls 

 of Niagara, which they cannot ascend, being migratory fish 

 descending to the sea, where they grow to a vast size, and 

 ascending annually to spring waters. In length they are 

 from 1 to 3 feet ; color, on the back sometimes a dark olive 

 brown, at others light brown ; belly, always white and sil- 

 very, especially in the silver eel, a variety peculiar to some 

 rivers. Head flat, and jaws more or less oblongated, but 

 the lower jaw always the longer ; eyes very near the 

 mouth, and small, with a reddish iris ; gill-opening set 

 far back, and close to the temporal fin. The eel is now 

 ascertained to spawn in the sea, for which purpose it de- 

 scends from its usual haunts and visits the ocean. It has 

 the power of overcoming all obstacles, because it can leave 

 the water, and by its serpent-like form, travel over or 

 round any flood-gate, or mill-dam, in its course, whether 

 up or down stream. It generally chooses dark stormy 

 nights for this purpose ; and its migration downward takes 

 place in the months of August, September, and October, 

 during which time eels are taken in large numbers by the 

 millers throughout the country, who set their pots at the 

 chief water-courjes. Eels are generally considered to be 

 viviparous, but they seem, like many other animals, some- 

 times to produce their ova already hatched, and at others 

 to eject them with their contents still in an embryo state. 

 The young first appear on the coasts in March and April, 

 and are then seen in enormous quantities. They soon 

 ascend the rivers, and by various devices they surmount 



