CHAPTER LV 



THE ORDER OF EELS 



APODES 



Whenever a fish-like creature looks so much 

 like a snake that it becomes necessary to inform 

 people "it is not a snake, but a fish," then it is 

 time to place it and all such creatures at the foot 

 of the class of Bony Fishes. But for the good, 

 hard bones in its skeleton, its descent to a posi- 

 tion below the Order of Rays would be swift and 

 sure. 



As a real fish, an eel is little more than a cari- 

 cature, and he who eats it must first skin it, just 

 as the Dyaks of Borneo do their water-snakes 

 before they roast them. It is the vulture of the 

 waters, and prefers to feed upon things dead. 



But, again are we reminded that there is no 

 accounting for differences in taste. Both in 

 Europe and America, they have been eaten ever 

 since the days of the Cave-Dweller and Mound- 

 Builder. And even to-day they are devoured, 

 not with toleration, but with a degree of avidity 

 worthy of better meat. 



A German writer who catalogued the good 

 points of the eel set forth prominently the fact 

 that it is an excellent scavenger, and devours 

 dead fish, crabs, and any fleshy prey, living or 

 dead, that it can secure. Those who wish to 

 pursue the subject of the food-habits of the eel 

 to its logical conclusion can find it in a notable, 

 epic by Canon Ingoldsby, entitled "The Knight 

 and the Lady." 



Nevertheless, in times past, the eel has con- 

 tributed a great store of edible flesh to the people 

 of New England, — where some of the finest of 

 fishes have always been abundant! There, eels 

 are eaten — stewed, fried, pickled and salted. The 

 flavor of an eel is not half bad, but its choice of 

 food is decidedly objectionable. If eels are to 

 be eaten by civilized people, then why draw the 

 line at sharks, whose flesh is far superior to that 

 of eels ? 



The United States Bureau of Fisheries has 

 taken the eel quite seriously, and been at 



42: 



considerable pains to introduce it in the upper 

 Mississippi valley, the great lakes above Niagara 

 Falls, and on the Pacific coast. And yet, Profess- 

 or Baird recorded. this very pertinent statement: 

 "It [the eel] is, however, a very undesirable 

 inmate of rivers in which fish are taken by means 

 of gill-nets, the destruction of shad and herring 

 in the waters of the Susquehanna and others 

 farther south being enormous. It is not infre- 

 quent that, when a gill-net is hauled up, the greater 

 part of the catch consists simply of heads and 

 back-bones, the remainder being devoured by. myr- 

 iads of eels in the short time the net is left out." 



THE ELECTRIC EEL. 



Is such a rapacious scavenger as this a species 

 worthy of introduction in any new waters save 

 those of an avowed enemy? 



The maximum length of the Common Eel 1 is 

 about four feet, but the average length is less than 

 three feet. The female lays an enormous number 

 of eggs, — estimated at ten millions, — preferably 

 in salt water ; but the young enter fresh water to 

 develop, and ascend as far as they can go. 



The Electric Eel 2 of South America is an Eel 

 worth knowing. Having had with it some thrill- 

 ing experiences, I can speak of it feelingly. 



Once while canoeing for zoological specimens 



1 An-gu-il'la vnl-gar'is. 



2 Gym-no 'tus e-lec'tri-cus. 



