OF THE UNITED STATES 89 



Many points in the history of eels are of interest; their pe- 

 culiar structure and wherein they differ from their near allies 

 among fishes; of their great economic value as a food, and how 

 some nations eat them and others do not; of their intolerance of 

 cold, and how in the winter time hundreds of them will huddle 

 together in the mud a foot or more beneath the surface, and 

 where fishermen will capture them in great quantities by means 

 of eel spears, especially after the tide has fallen and left them 

 dry. 



Baird has said that eels will eat anything, living or dead, and 

 so far as my own personal experience goes, I believe them to 

 stand among the scavengers of the rivers and seas where they 

 occur. They are both carnivorous as well as voracious, and dur- 

 ing the summer months of their activity consume thousands of 

 .young fishes, worms and larva? of marine insects. 



In ancient times the Egyptians regarded these fishes with the 

 greatest possible disgust, while, on the other hand, the Romans 

 and Greeks esteemed them among the most savory of their 

 dishes, and frequently were willing to pay enormous prices to 

 secure them as a food. It is said that in these days eels are never 

 eaten in Scotland, though in England, as well as in this country, 

 vast numbers of them are annually consumed. The greatest eel- 

 breeding establishment in the world is that at Commachio on 

 the Adriatic, where an immense swanip, bounded and fed by two 

 of the months of the River Po, 140 miles in circumference, lias 

 been utilized for this purpose. The industry is very ancient, 

 having yielded in the sixteenth century an annual revenue to the 

 Roman Pontiffs, in whose territory it was, of $66,000. The eels are 

 cooked at Commachio and forwarded to the principal towns of 

 Italy. 



Among the allies of the common eels we find upon our coasts 

 the muramas, which belong to the family MurwnidcB, and of 

 these there appear to be at least three well recognized American 

 species. M. mordax, of the lower California waters, is there 

 known by the fishermen as the " Conger eel,'' or the " Congeree," 

 who dread it on account of its ferocious disposition and the ugly 

 bite it so frequently inflicts. These great marine forms that 

 have been known to attain a length of ten feet, and weigh up- 

 wards of 150 lbs. 



It is a first-rate food-fish, and much sought after, many of them 

 being brought into the markets at Los Angeles. Another species 



