but the reason of this distension seems rather obscure. In 1827, thousands of Congers were seen lying dead on the shore, at Eastbourne, during a severe frost; and in January, 1855, a similar circumstance occurred on several of our coasts.

The colour of the Conger is pale brown above and greyish white below. It often attains to a very great size, measuring ten feet in length and weighing more than a hundred pounds.

THE beautifully mottled MURÆNA is tolerably common in the Mediterranean, but is so scarce towards the British coast that it can hardly be considered as one of the true English fishes.

In former days the Muræna was held in great distinction by epicures; and the wealthy were accustomed to preserve them in ponds built for that special purpose. In these ponds the Murænæ were fattened, and several of the aristocrats laboured under the imputation of feeding them with an occasional slave, whenever an ill-fated domestic had the misfortune to offend them. The flesh is very white in colour, and of a peculiar and very delicate flavour. This fish can live either in salt or fresh water, but appears to prefer the sea.

The colour is golden yellow in front and purple towards the tail; and the whole body is covered with bands, irregular rings, and spots of deep and pale gold, purple, and brown. The dorsal fin begins a little behind the head and runs to the tail, where it is united with the anal fin. Both these fins are, however, low and fleshy, and not at all conspicuous. The length of this fish is extremely variable; one specimen captured off the British shores measured four feet four inches in length.

The ELECTRIC EEL is even more remarkable for its capability of delivering powerful electric shocks than the torpedo, but as it is never found in the British seas it is not so well known as that fish.

The Electric Eel is a native of Southern America, and inhabits the rivers of that warm and verdant country. The organs which enable it to produce such wonderful effects are double, and lie along the body, the one upon the other.

The reader will remember that in the torpedo the electric effect was produced by a number of little columns; in the Electric Eel, the corresponding organ consists of a great number of divisions, technically called "septa," which are again subdivided by lesser transverse membranes. One organ is always larger than the other; and it was found that in a fish measuring about two feet four inches in length, there were thirty-four septa in the larger organ and fourteen in the smaller. On an average two hundred and forty transverse membranes are packed in each inch, thereby giving a vast extent of electricityproducing surface. It was calculated by Lacepède, that the expanse of this organ in an Electric Eel of four feet in length is equivalent to one hundred and twenty-three square feet, while that of a large torpedo only equals fifty-eight feet.

In the native country of these fishes they are captured by an ingenious but somewhat cruel process. A herd of wild horses are driven to the spot and urged into the water. The alarmed Gymnoti, finding their domains thus invaded, call forth all the terrors of their invisible artillery to repel the intruders, and discharge their pent-up lightnings with fearful rapidity and force. Gliding under the bellies of the frightened horses, they press themselves against their bodies, as if to economize all the electrical fluid, and by shock after shock generally succeed in drowning several of the poor quadrupeds.

Horses, however, are but of slight value in that country, hardly, indeed, so much valued as pigeons in England, and as fast as they emerge from the water in frantic terror, are driven back among their dread enemies. Presently the shocks become less powerful, for the Gymnotus soon exhausts its store of electricity, and when the fishes are thoroughly fatigued they are captured with impunity by the native hunters. most interesting account of this process is given by Humboldt, but is too long to be inserted in these pages.

Several of these wonderful fish have been brought to England in a living state; and many of my readers may remember the fine Gymnotus that lived in the Polytechnic Institution. Numbers of experimenters were accustomed daily to test its powers; and the fatal, or at all events the numbing, power of the stroke was evident when the creature was supplied with the fish on which it fed. Though blind, it was accustomed to turn its head towards the spot designated by the splashing of the attendant's finger, and as soon

as a fish was allowed to fall into the water the Gymnotus would curve itself slightly, seemed to stiffen its muscles, and the victim turned over on its back, struck as if dead by the violence of the shock.

When full grown, the Electric Eel will attain a length of five or six feet, and is then a truly formidable creature. The body is rounded, and the scales small and barely visible. According to Marcgrave, the native name for this fish is Carapo.

We have already seen some examples of fishes where the body is extremely transparent, and now come to an entire family where this peculiarity is the chief and most obvious characteristic.

The skeleton of the Leptocephalidæ, or Glass Eels as they are termed, from their Eel-like shape and singular translucency, is very imperfect, merely consisting of cartilage, and so slight, that even in the head, where the greatest strength is required, the brain can be seen through the translucent skull in which it lies. Their bodies are always extremely compressed and mostly leaf-like, so transparent that when lying in a vessel containing water they would hardly be noticed, and the lateral line is formed by the intersection of the muscles, as may be seen by reference to the illustration.

The PIG-NOSED GLASS EEL may be known by the lengthened form of its head and snout, which are far longer in proportion to the dimensions of the fish than in any other member of the family. The generic term Hyoprorus literally signifies swine-beaked, and in former days was applied to a certain kind of galley which had a long and slightly turned-up beak. The sudden height of the body just behind the head is very remarkable, and on close examination, a row of mucous pores will be found along the jaws and on the head. The eyes are not very large, and the general length of the species is between four and five inches. As its specific name imports, it has been taken at Messina.

The HAIR-TAILED GLASS EEL is much longer in proportion than the last-mentioned species, and its body is so extremely compressed that it is hardly thicker than the paper on which this account is printed. This species is also found at Messina. The jaws are short and round, the eye rather small, and the tail tapers away to a hair-like point. The length of this fish is rather more than a foot, and a row of minute points runs along each edge of the body.

The typical genus Leptocephalus is a rather large one, containing more species than the four preceding genera together.

The ROUND-HEADED GLASS EEL derives its specific name of Tania, or tapeworm, on account of its resemblance to that unpleasant internal parasite. Its head is, as its name denotes, short and much rounded, and the eyes are globular, projecting, and extremely large. The jaws are tolerably well furnished with small teeth. In shape it is long and rather rounded, and the absence of fins renders its resemblance to a tapeworm extremely striking. It seems to be an Asiatic species, having been captured in India and the neighbouring islands.

AN example of this genus, the ANGLESEY MORRIS (Leptocephalus Morrisi), has been taken on our own coasts. In this species the head is blunt, the eye moderate, the body much compressed, and deepest at the latter third of its length. When living, its polished surface reflects gleams of iridescent light as it winds its graceful way through the seaweeds among which it loves to sojourn, like a ribbon of animated nacre. But when dead and placed in spirits, all the delicate opalescence of its body fades, and soon deteriorates into an opaque dull whiteness like wet parchment.

THE reader will remember that on several occasions it has been deemed expedient to give examples of remarkable deviations from the ordinary system, and to call attention to the wonderful economy of nature, which is most averse to wastefulness, and declines to expend its powers on organs that if existing would be in abeyance. A recent example of such modification has been given in the proteus, on page 192, that curious reptile, or semi-reptile, which inhabits caves wherein penetrates no ray of light, and which, having no need of external eyes, is altogether devoid cf such useless organs.

The BLIND-FISH of America affords another instance of similar economy in structure. Living, like the proteus, in a subterranean and perfectly dark grotto, it needs no eyes, and

in consequence possesses none, their place being merely indicated by two minute black dots on the sides of the head. The head is naked, but the body is covered with scales, and the jaws are furnished with some small but sharp teeth. Its colour is whitish grey, as is, indeed, mostly the case with animals that have been long deprived of the colourgiving sunlight. The grotto which contains this very remarkable little fish is in Kentucky.

WE now come to that most valuable family of fishes, the Herring tribe, called technically Clupeidæ, from the Latin word clupea, a herring.

THE well-known ANCHOVY is properly a native of the Mediterranean Sea, though it often occurs on our coasts, and has once or twice been captured in our rivers. Indeed, one practical writer on British fishes thinks that the capture of the Anchovy off our shores is a task that would be highly remunerative if properly undertaken, and that, with proper pains, the British markets might be fully supplied with Anchovies from

our own seas.

This little fish has long been famous for the powerful and unique flavou. of its flesh, and is in consequence captured in vast quantities for the purpose of being made into Anchovy sauce, Anchovy paste, and other articles of diet in which the heart of an epicure delights. Unfortunately, however, the little fish is so valuable, that in the preparations made from its flesh the dishonest dealers too often adulterate their goods largely, and palm off sprats and other comparatively worthless fish for the real Anchovy.