THE POET GRAY 
PISCES 
MuRiENA ANGUILLA 
The Eel 
In fluviis nostris, lacubus, piscinis fere omnibus frequentissimae. 
. . . Our Ancestors divided them according to their size and price 
into Great-eels, Spitch-cock eels, Shaft-eels, Brewet-eels, Pim- 
pering-eels, etc. tho' possibly this latter might be a fish of a dif- 
ferent kind, for Gesner describing a species of Loach calPd in 
Germany Beizker or Meerput^ adds, Idem aut simillimus fuerit, 
qui a Flandris Pywper-ele nominatur: e Flandria in Angliam 
importari audio. The smaller eels we now call Grigs. Nella citta 
di Coinacchio, la quale e circondata d'acqua salsa, si piglia gran 
quantita d'Anguille, che son le migliori di Lombardia, e si 
portano salate per tutta Italia {B. Scappi. f. 136). Ex Arno fl. 
anguillae omnes Augusto mense ad mare descendunt, ut ibidem 
pariant; faetus autem a mari statis temporibus (a Februario ad 
Aprilem) ad Pisas usque ascendunt {Redi apud Ramm, Synops. 
P'lsc. p. 37). They are also caught in the sea at Southampton in 
October, but greenish of colour, and yellow on the belly, and at 
Hartlepool in summer, tho' small, not varying at all in colour. 
[p. 24s.] 
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