OF THE UNITED STATES 



87 



lidce, it may in truth lie said that there are vast numbers of 

 people who believe that our common eels are. as I have said 

 above, nothing more nor less than some kind of a water snake, 

 and in reality related to the true serpents. This opinion is en- 

 tirely an erroneous one, and eels are not only not snakes, but 

 they are not even akin to them. They are a family of apodal 

 fishes, numerous forms of which, to some extent, resemble a 

 snake in appearance, from their having a general serpentine 

 outline. 



It is quite remarkable to find persons possessing a high order 

 of intelligence in many fields of information to be almost en- 

 tirely ignorant of such matters. 



There has been since the days of Aristotle an enormous 

 literature devoted to the subject of eels, the structure of 

 both sexes, and their habits and reproduction. The geo- 

 graphical distribution and migration of eels have also re- 

 ceived very considerable attention, the latter being a subject of 

 special interest. One of our best authorities on fishes, Dr. D. 

 S. Jordan, recognizes but one species of common eel occurring in 

 this country (Anguilla rostrata), which he says is "very abundant 

 from Maine to Mexico; ascending all streams, and resident 

 throughout the Mississippi Valley. Also recorded from China." 

 On the other hand. Dr. Goode assumes the specific identity of the 

 eels of the Old and the New Worlds, and makes the habitat of 

 the common eel almost cosmopolitan, designating the species as 

 A. vulgaris (Fig. 22). Still other authorities entertain views 

 at variance with the two just given, and Prof. Packard, one of 

 our best known naturalists, says ''the common eel," which he 

 claims to be "Anguilla acutirostris, occurs on both sides of the 

 Atlantic, on the North American coast as far south as Cape Hat- 

 teras, and in inland rivers and lakes.'' From this it will be ad- 

 mitted that not a little yet remains to be accomplished, even in 

 the matter of the correct identification of the members of this 

 genus. 



One of the most interesting facts connected with the history 

 of eels is that they are known at times to leave the water and to 

 pass over dry land to other ponds or lakes in the neighborhood. 

 By the aid of roots and branches or inequalities of the ground, 

 they have also been known to climb out of the water and up more 

 or less steep ascents, sometimes to the height of twenty feet. 

 When confined in ponds, eels will often quit these at night, and, 



