Silver 
Eels. 
Grigs. 
“WIA Eee as Clafs IV. - 
This fifh is furnifhed with a pair of pectoral fins, 
rounded at theirends. Another narrow fin on the 
back, uniting with that of the tail; and the anal. 
fin joins it in the fame manner beneath. 
Behind the pectoral fins is the orifice to the gills, 
which are concealed in the fkin. 
Eels vary much in their colors, from a footy hue 
to a light olive green; and thofe which are called 
filver eels, have their bellies white, and a remarka- 
ble clearnefs throughout. 
Befides thefe ee ig another var iety of this fifh 
known in the Thames by the name of Grigs, and 
about Oxford by that of Grigs or Gluts. Thefe are 
fcarce ever feen near Oxford in the winter, but ap- 
pear in fpring, and bite readily at the hook, which 
common eels in that neighborhood will not. They 
have a larger head, a blunter nofe, thicker fkin, and 
lefs fat than the common fort; neither are they fo 
much efteemed, nor do they often exceed three or 
four pounds in weight. 
Common eels crow to a large fize, fometimes fo 
great as to weigh fifteen or twenty pounds, but that 
is extremely rare. As to inftances brought by Dale 
and others, of thefe fifh encreafing to a fuperior 
magnitude, we have much reafon to fufpect them 
to have been congers, fince the enormous fifh they 
defcribe, have all been taken at the mouths of the 
Thames or Medway. 
The eel is the moft univerfal of fifth, yet is f{earce 
ever found in the Danube, tho’ it is very common 
in the lakes and rivers of Upper Ayftria. 
The 
