244 A P ODES. 



The specimen of which we are speaking was 

 only about eighteen inches long, taken in the sea- 

 grass, and very spiteful and active. Its lips were 

 thick, and somewhat cartilaginous. On the whole, 

 it resembled the blenny. Sir Humphrey Davy 

 speaks of having seen the conger ten feet long. 



Conger eels are occasionally obtained by the 

 fishermen, six and seven feet in length, as large 

 as a man's arm. However, on the coast of Mas- 

 sachusetts, such specimens are not so frequent as 

 farther south. 



A bill was reported in the Massachusetts Legis- 

 lature, on Wednesday, March 13th, 1833, — (we 

 have been particular as to the exact period, be- 

 cause it may hereafter be celebrated as an sera in 

 legislation) " to preserve the eel-fishery at Mus- 

 keeket Island, in Nantucket." Surely, this must 

 be considered the ne plus ultra of parliamentary 

 wisdom, — ■ enacting laws to prevent the extermin- 

 ation of a fish, infinitely more numerous than any 

 other species, and which it would be utterly im- 

 possible to exterminate. 



The City of Boston, with this precedent, 

 ought at once to pass an ordinance in behalf, and 

 for the preservation of the cod on the banks of 

 Newfoundland, — and another, forbidding all good 

 and orderly disposed people from supping on fe- 

 male lobsters, lest it should ultimately diminish 



