KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



59 



opportunity .of well observing them; but they 

 presently gained a considerable altitude, and in 

 a few minutes were entirely lost to our view. 

 Now, if we take into consideration the season of 

 the year, and the peculiar mode of flight adopted 

 by the insects in this instance (going in a body), 

 the fact must at least be viewed as something 

 most unusual and singular. — !>., JBarnham, Bucks, 

 Jan. 6. 



ON THE PKOPAGATION OE EELS. 



This is a subject, in which all the scien- 

 tific and curious portion of the public must 

 feel great interest. The migration of eels is 

 well known, as is also the size of them 

 (about three inches), when the migratory 

 impulse is upon them. But all "sound 

 authorities" are agreed that they are not 

 bred from spawn, but viviparous. Nor can 

 we obtain any credible evidence to the con- 

 trary, although "a mare's nest" lias re- 

 cently been discovered, and published to 

 the world as "a fact" (!) in the Worcester 

 Journal. We pardon the editor most 

 readily, as we give him full credit for being 

 ignorant on a subject which nobody can 

 fathom or speak to a point about. 



We were preparing to take up the pen 

 ourselves, to assist in setting the matter 

 right ; but it has just been so well done by 

 " T. Gr." in the Gardeners Chronicle, that 

 the^ necessity no longer exists. Still, we 

 revive the "question" here, to keep it 

 healthily alive; and to prevent anything 

 like error being established as fact — one of 

 the great objects for which our London 

 Journal was brought forward. 



The question was opened by " T. G.," on 

 the 20th ult., in the following manner : — 



Propagation op Eels. — My attention has 

 been called to a paragraph in a Worcester paper, 

 giving an account of a so-called discovery by 

 Mr. Eoccius, that eels are propagated by spawn, 

 like other fishes, and that they are not brought 

 forth alive, as has hitherto been supposed! This 

 may be true, but before I can give an unqualified 

 belief to the assertion, I should like to have a 

 few questions answered by Mr. Boccius. Who 

 saw the fish Jrom which these thousands of eggs 

 were extracted, at the time this dissection was 

 made? Are the parties who saw these eggs quite 

 certain that the fish was an eel, and not a 

 lamprey? Who saw the eggs from which Mr. 

 Boccius produced living eels'? Who, besides Mr. 

 Boccius, ever saw eel-fry in a pond which had 

 no communication with a river ? Will Mr. Fre- 

 derick Allies, and Mr. Reed (the gentlemen to 

 whom this "spawn" was exhibited,) say whether 

 the ovary which was shewn to them was pretty 

 much of the same form as that of the lamprey? 

 And if not, in what respect did it differ ? I 

 am induced to ask these questions, both because, 

 by inference, they show my own opinions on the 

 subject, and because I am led, on undoubted 

 authority, to believe that Mr. Boccius is inclined 



to claim all that belongs to him at least; and 

 also because I have my doubts about the scien- 

 tific attainments of Mr. Boccius in the natural 

 history of fishes. It is difficult to prove a ne- 

 gative. My never having seen "the strange 

 things " above mentioned, certainly does not 

 prove that other people, with better eyes and 

 more discrimination, have likewise failed to do 

 so ; but I cannot help doubting, and I publish 

 my doubt in the hope that the subject may be 

 further inquired into. A true naturalist ought 

 to ivish only for the truth, without reference to 

 his own pre-conceived notions ; but, so far as my 

 examinations have gone, I have failed altogether 

 in detecting spawn in the fringes which I have 

 fancied were the ovaria of the fish, or elsewhere; 

 and I do not believe that eels are bred in fresh 

 water at all. I see the fry ascending from the 

 sea, in May and June, by thousands and 

 millions ; but I never met with one of these in 

 a pond having no communication with a river. 

 I have little doubt that I shall be pronounced in 

 error touching this matter, except by those who 

 know how perseveringly these little eels make 

 their way up every stream, ditch, and driblet of 

 water into which they can gain access. They 

 penetrate into the water pipes and pumps ; they 

 climb up the perpendicular faces of the rocks 

 and weirs, which obstruct the course of the 

 river, even when they are only moist; adhering 

 to the moss and stones almost as well as snails. 

 The downward migration of the eels is observed 

 here from July to the middle of September; 

 but in the Manchester market, I find them up 

 to this time (the end of November), and am in- 

 formed that they are caught at the foot of 

 Windermere in their downward migration. 

 Pray, will a dissection of the conger at various 

 seasons throw no light on the propagation of 

 eels? One would think that, in such large fish, 

 the ovary would be much more easily distin- 

 guished than in smaller specimens. — T. G., 

 Clitheroe. 



To this, there appeared, on the 27th ult., 

 a rejoinder by " G. H.," Finedon Hall. 



Propagation of Eels.— At p. 806, " T. G." 

 denies the possibility of eels breeding in fresh 

 water. We have a pond here, covering from 

 three to four acres, which swarms with eels of 

 all sizes. I have caught them from the size of 

 my little finger up to the weight of five pounds ; 

 the supply of water is from nothing else but 

 land springs, there being no communication be- 

 tween the pond and any river ; when much rain 

 occurs, I am obliged to put up a sluice board, 

 in order to prevent the hanks from overflowing. 

 I have taken from lib. to a cwt. at a time from 

 a box, which the water flows through at the 

 bottom of the sluice board; the large quantity 

 that has been taken out of this pond leaves no 

 doubt that they breed to a great extent, but 

 whether they are propagated by spawn, or brought 

 forth alive, I am unable to say. — G. H., 

 Finedon Hall. 



No other champions appearing, in a paper 

 of so extensive a circulation as the Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle, shows how ridiculous the 

 idea of eels being bred from spawn is con- 

 sidered by men of science and observation. 



