EEL 
an-J, when cloatKcd, is covered v/itli fliorf thick-fet 
brifrles mixed with fome very long ones, is found 
near Weymouth. Borlafe h.as given a figure of an 
Echinus Vi'hich rcfeiribles tl.e above; but neither 
the print nor defcription enable us to detennine 
whether it is of the fame or a diftinft fpecies. 
An infinite variety of Echini are found in a fof- 
file fbate, of wliicli only a few have yet been dif'co- 
vered recent : however, the different genera of thefe 
foffile fliells are ufually known among authors un- 
der the names of fpatagi, cordati, galeati, pileati, 
difcoides, ovarii, and pentaphylloides. 
EDOLIO. A bird peculiar to the Cape of 
Good Hope; lb called from it's repeating diftiniliy 
the word Edolio. It exa£lly refembles the cuckow 
both in fnape and iize, and is frequently feen on 
thick buflits and high trees; but by what name it 
is known among tlie native ilottentots, we have 
not learned. • 
EEI^ ; the Mvir?ena Anguilia of Linnaeus. The 
Eel, from many parts of it's natural hiftory, ap- 
pears to be a very lingular fifh, and in fome re- 
fpe£ls to border on the nature of the reptile tribe. 
During the night it frequently quits the v/ater, it's 
native element, to wander in meadow-grounds, not 
only for the fake of changing it's habitation, but 
alfo of feeding on fuch fnails as it meets with in 
it's paflage; and in winter it buries itfelf deep in the 
mud, where, hke the ferpent race, it continues in 
a ftate of torpidity. So very impatient of cold 
are thefe creatures, that, in fevere weatlier, they 
will eagerly take fnelter in a wifp of ftrav/ flung 
into a pond; which device has fometimes been 
pra'ftifed in order to catch them: and Albertus in- 
forms us, that he has known Eels betake them-, 
felves, during the brumal feafon, to a hay-rick, 
where they perifhed through excelTive cold. 
Morton, in his Hiftory of Northamptonfhire, 
obferves, that the re IS a fpecies of fmall Eels, hav- 
ing {Inaller heads and larger mouths than the com- 
mon kind, found in cluPcers at the bottom of the 
River Nym.e, and hence called Bed-Eels: thefe 
are frequently roufed from their retieats by violent 
floods, v/hen their flomachs are always found wholly 
deilituce ol meat. This circumftance bears fuch an 
analogy to the cluftering of blind-w(''rms in their 
quieicent ftate, that it is undoubtedly a farther 
proof of a partial agreement in the nature of the 
two genera. 
Tiierc is fcarcely any animal whofe generation 
Eas fo iTiuch puzzled and perplexed the fyftems of 
tiie learned and inquiative as this. Ariilotle firft 
broached an opinion, that E>Is v/ere of the com- 
mon gender, and that they did not propagate their 
ipecies like other animals, but v/ere equivocally 
engendered by the mud. Wild and abfurd as this 
hypotliefis mull appear to every rational miind, it 
neverthclefs met with many abettors in more en- 
lightened ages. Modern enquirers, however, have 
been fo well inftrufled in the fyftem of animal ge- 
neration by the works of Swammerdam, Lewen- 
hoeck, l^vlalpighi, Redi, Ray, and numerous other 
refpeftable writers on the fame fubjeft, that there 
now remains no doubt that all animals are pro- 
duced by the conta-ft of parents like themlelves : 
and the phenomenon of- Eels being found in new 
ponds is eafily accounted for, if v/e ciedit Dr. Plot, 
v/l:o confidently afierts, that whole droves of them 
will fometimes leave one ditch or pond, and crofs 
.the meadows, as well in fearch of food, as of new 
retreats. We are well aware, that the Eel retains 
it's vital principle longer than any other fifli, after 
being taken out of the v/ater; nor is it difficult to 
conceive, that it may, without any inconvenience, 
fperid fo much time out of that element as is ne- 
ceffary (or the pafling from one piece of water to 
another contiguous one: nor, v/hen a nuniber of 
thefe creatures have found a new pond, is it at all 
furpuizing that they continue in it, fince they feed 
on v/orms and other infefts, of which it is extremely 
probable they find abundance in fuch parts of the 
earth as have been newly turned up, and where 
they have not preyed before. 
But though the literati are now generally agreed 
that Eels are produced, like other animals, by pa- 
rents of their ovm kind, flill there remain many 
doubts concerning the manner in which this bufi- 
nefs is effeftcd. Some allow Eels to be like the 
generality of other animals of diftlnft fexes in the 
different individuals; while others affirm that they 
are all hermaphrodites, each poffeffing the parts 
of generation of both fexes. Rondeletius afferts, 
that they are of different fexes ; and Mr. Allen, 
who has publillied a very curious paper concern- 
ing them in the Philofophical Tranfaftions, is of 
the fame opinion; both affuming that th.e parts of 
generation are perceptible on a careful infpedlionj 
and fome difcoverable to be males, and others fe- 
males: but thefe members (they tell us) being bu- 
ried in a vaft quantity of fat, are very difficult to 
be difcerned; and confequently Ariilotle, who was 
unable to difcover them, concluded that they did not 
exift at all, v/hich opinion his followers have adopted. 
Among thofe authors who allow Eels to be pro- 
duced, like other creatures, from animal parents of 
different lexes, fome are of opinion that they are vi- 
viparous ; others, diat they are oviparous. But Mr. 
Chartwind feems to have conclufively determined 
this great argument, by obferving, that if the aper- 
ture under the belly of the Eel, which appears red 
during the month of May, be cut at that time, the 
young Eels will be obferved to come forth alive 
after the operation. Lewenhoeck informs us, that 
he found an uterus in every Eel wliich he exa- 
i«ined, and therefore concludes them, to be herma- 
phrodites: he alfo conje(51:ures that they have no 
male parts of generation like thofe of other ani- 
mals ; but that the office of thefe is perfonr.cd by 
a fluid analagous to the male feed of animals, con- 
tained in certain glands fituated on the infide of the 
uterus itfelf. Elov/evcr, it has been iulliciendy 
proved by m.odern experiments, that the inimediate 
generation of Eels is effefted in the ordinary courfe 
of nature, and that the animals themfclves are vi- 
viparous. 
The Eel is extremely voracious in it's appetite, 
as well as defl:ru6live to the fry of fifli. The eyes 
are placed at a fmall diflance from the end of the 
nofe; the irides are tinged with red; the teeth are 
fmall, fliarp, and numerous; the under-jav/ is 
longer than the upper; beneath each eye there is 
a minute orifice; and at the extremity of the nofe 
there are two others, fmall and tubular. The two 
pe6loral fins are rounded at their ends; a narrow 
fin extends along the back, and unites with that of 
the tail ; the anal fin joins in the fame mianner be- 
neath; and the orifice of the gills is fituated behind 
the peroral fin. 
Eels vary in their colours, from a footy hue 
to a light olive green; and thofe which are called 
filver Eels have white bellies, and poffefs a re- 
markable brightnefs throughout. 
There is a variety of this Eel known in London 
and it's vicinitv bv the nam.e of the grig, and at 
Oxford 
