The young Minnows in this state were quite transparent, except the eyes, which were disproportionately large; and they seemed to be perfectly aware that they owed their safety to concealment, as those that I saw immediately buried themselves in the gravel when they were set at liberty. (July 27th, 1832.)

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EELS.

To the Editor of the “Gardener’s Chronicle.”

My attention has been called to a paragraph in a Worcester paper giving an account of a (so-called) discovery by Mr. Boccius, that Eels are propagated by spawn, like other fish, and that they are not brought forth alive, as had 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 from which those 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 beside Mr. Boccius ever saw Eel-fry in a pond which had no communication with a river?  Will Mr. Allees and Mr. Reed (the gentlemen to whom the spawn was exhibited) say whether the ovary which was shown 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 at least all that belongs to him; and also because I have my doubts about the scientific attainments of Mr. Boccius in the Natural History of Fishes.

It is difficult to prove a negative.  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 can’t help doubting, and I publish my doubts in the hope that the subject may be further inquired into.  A true naturalist ought only to wish for the truth, without reference to his own preconceived notions; but so far as my examinations have gone, I have failed altogether to detect spawn in the fringes which I have fancied were the ovaria of the fish, or elsewhere, and I don’t 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 perhaps 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 rivers, even when they are only moist—­adhering to the moss and stones like snails.