Class IV. COMMON EEL. 195 



winter, but appear in spring, and bite readily at 

 the hook, which common eels in that neighbour- 

 hood will not. They have a larger head, a 

 blunter nose, thicker skin, and are less fat than 

 the common sort; neither are they so much 

 esteemed, nor do they often exceed three or 

 four pounds in weight. 



Common eels grow to a large size, sometimes 

 so great as to weigh fifteen or twenty pounds, 

 but that is extremely rare. As to instances 

 brought by Dale and others, of their increasing 

 to a superior magnitude, we have much reason 

 to suspect them to have been congers, since the 

 enormous fish they describe, have all been taken 

 at the mouths of the Thames or Medway. 



The eel is the most universal of fishes, yet is 

 scarcely ever found in the Danube, though it is 

 very common in the lakes and rivers of Upper 

 Austria. The Romans held it very cheap, pro- 

 bably from its likeness to a snake. 



Vos anguilla manet longae cognata colubra?, 

 Vernula riparum pinguis torrente cloaca. * 



For you, is kept a sink-fed snake-like eel. 



They are likewise detested by the Scottish 

 highlanders. 



On the contrary, the luxurious Sybarites 



* Juvenal. Sat. v. 103. 



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