EEL 
Oxford by that of the grig or glut. The head is 
larger, the nofe more blunt, and the fl<in diicker, 
than in thofe of the common fortj neither is it fo 
fat, fodarge, nor fo much efteemed, as the com- 
mon Eel, which fometimes v/eighs upwards of 
twenty pounds ; and notwithflanding it is the moft 
univcrfal of all fifh, it is very rarely found in the 
Danube, though very common in the lakes and 
rivers of Upper Auftria. It appears that the Ro- 
mans paid little regard to thefe fifli; but the luxu- 
rious Sybarites were fo fond of them, that they 
exempted thofe who fold them from erery kind of 
tribute. 
Thofe Eels which are caught in rivers, or other 
clear running waters, are generally preferred. Boer- 
haave fays, that no fiih whatever have more acrid 
galls than Eels; and farther obferves that, with an 
admixture of thofe of the Eel and the pike made 
into pills, he hath cured many ricketty children 
•who were afflifted with hard and fwelled bellies. 
The Eel, though it generally lives in frefh wa- 
ter, fometimes enters the fea, and returns back 
again to it's former abode. It delights in pure run- 
ning ftreams ; and, if confined to muddy water for 
any length of time, becomes lean, flaccid, and at 
laft dies. Indeed, it cannot fupport any confide- 
rable difference of living; for, were it to be con- 
veyed, even in the fummer feafon, from a mode- 
rately tepid to a more frigid ftream, it would foon 
peri 111. It feeds on roots, herbs, fifh, infefts, and 
whatever elfe it meets with at the bottoms of ri- 
vers : and Athenasus gravely informs us that, in a 
certain country, he has knov/n Eels fo far tamed, 
as to approach and fcize any food prefented them 
with the hand. 
Eels generally live to the age of feven or eight 
years, and afford an excellent aliment: their flelli, 
which is tender, foft, and nourilhing, contains 
many oily and balfamic parts ; but it has alfo others 
that are of a dull, vifcous, and grofs nature, and 
render it hard of digeftion. Thefe filli may be 
roafted, fried, broiled, or boiled: but thofe which 
are roalled appear to be the moftwholefome; for this 
reafon, becaufe they are thereby more divefted of 
their vifcous phlegm than by the other mjodes of 
drelfing. Their fat is efteemed excellent in re- 
moving marks of the fmall pox from the face, in 
curing the piles, and in caufing the hair to grow. 
A kind of mucilage is made of their flcins by deep- 
ing and boiling them in water, which is frequently 
applied to fwellings, in order to foften and dilfolve 
them; and it is alfo ferviceable in the hernia. 
Eel, Conger. This fpecies, with regard to 
it's general conformation, refembles the common 
Eel ; but differs materially from it in fize, fome 
Congers being feveral yards long, and as thick as 
a man's thigh : the colour of the back alfo is lighter 
than that of the common Eel, being more of an 
afh; the belly is v/hiter; the eyes are larger in pro- 
portion; the irides are filvery; and on the fides 
there is a ftraight, white, broadifli line, feemingly 
eompofed of a double row of points, which reaches 
from the head to the tail. The upper edge of the 
dorfal fin is blackifh throughout it's whole length; 
and the end of the upper chap;, or fnout, is fur- 
Hiflieti with two fhort horns, or tubes, which 
abound with a mucilaginous fluid. Some fuppofe 
the flefh of the Conger to be as fweet and [alu- 
brious as that of the common Eel ; but it is un- 
doubtedly neither fo delicious nor fo eafily di- 
gefted. See Conger-Eel. 
Eel, Sand, or Launce, This filh, like the 
EEL 
common Eel, is long and round, but it feldom ex- 
ceeds a foot in length : it is blue on the back, and 
of a filver colour On the belly and fides ; it has a 
fharp fnout, and a wide mouth deftitute of teeth? 
the lower jaw is longer than the upper; and it has 
no fcales. A long fin extends along the back 
within a fmall fpace of the tail; and there are a pair 
of fins at the gills, but none on the belly. Thefe 
fifh generally lie half a foot deep in the fand ; and, 
when the tide ebbs, the fifliermen on the Cornifh 
coaft and the Ifle of Man angle for them with 
hooks conftrufted for that purpofe. Their fleih, 
which is very fweet and falubrious, proves an ex- 
cellent bait for other fifli. 
There is another fpecies of Sand-Eel, which dif- 
fers fromi the former in liaving two fins on it's 
back, whereas that has only one. 
Eel, Indian. An Eafb Indian fifh, the anguilla 
Indica of authors: of wljich there are two fpecies; 
the cn; being entirely fpotted with brown, and the 
other of a fine yellow colour fl:reaked with red. 
The flefh of both is reckoned unwholefome. 
Eel, Sea. A fifh commonly found among 
rocks about the fliores of many parts of the Eaft 
Indies. It is of a dufky brown colour, variegated 
with rhomboidal fpots not very unlike thofe on the 
fl'cins of fnakes; the anterior part of the body is 
thin and flender, the hinder part being very thick ; 
the nofe is long; the mouth is large, and com- 
monly open; and the teeth are very fharp and 
fmall. 
Sea-Eels grow cxcefilvely fat, and are very 
wholefome and delicious food; though it is faid 
that thofe who kill them are affeifled v/ith tremors, 
and fometimes with drowfinefs; but which gene- 
rally go off without any m.aterial injuiy. 
Eel, Electric See Ray, Electric 
Eel, Microscopic. The long-bodied ani- 
malcules difcovered by the help of microfcopes in 
vinegar, four pafte, and many other fiibftances, 
have, on account of their figure, been diftinguifhed 
from the reft of the microfcopic animalcules by 
the namic of Eels : thefe, as well as the other kinds, 
have been fuppofed by the moft judicious natu- 
ralifts to be produced from the eggs of other ani- 
malcules of the fly kind floating in the air-; but 
thofe in pafte are difcovered to be viviparous ani- 
mals, which produce living creatures of their own 
fhape. In order to be always furnifhed with thefe 
minute animals for microfcopic obfervations, fuch 
pafte as bookbinders commonly ufe, and of a mode- 
rate confiftence, fliould be expofed to the air in an 
open veflfel, and prevented from becoming hard or 
mouldy by being occafionally ftirred. After fome 
days, it will turn four; when, if attentively exa- 
mined, multitudes of extremely fmall, long, and 
flender animalcules, mc.y be difcovered in it, which 
will daily grow larger, till at length they will be 
perceptible by the naked eye. In order to pro- 
mote their growth, a drop of vinegar may be fome- 
times poured on the pafte, by which means they 
will be preferved throughout the whole year. Tliey 
may be fingly applied to the microfcope on a fingle 
talc or ifinglafs, a finall drop of water being pre- 
vioufly put on it, that the animalcule may fwim 
therein; and then the internal motion of it's bowela 
may be plainly perceived. 
On cutting one of thefe Pafte-Eels acrofs the 
middle, a long and flender tube may be obferved 
to fiioot out from each of the divided ends, and a 
number of feeming ova iffue from this; but thefe, 
on bcirig more minutely infpedled, will appear to 
be 
