Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1871-03-23
An Essay on Eels.

ToI. AS1SslA udSluS WiietSH Ouo
little tor several years on his favorite
strdy, ichthyology, the editor of
the Belsut (Me.,) Journal has COM
m cnced n series of papers on fishes
in ligenc.us to Maine waters. The
following g is his essay on eels:
The My reptile we have in this
locality, in any Wholesale quantity, Is
the eel. Its bite is not deadly except
TO a fish l.hook, aud after being once
bitten, we never knew . hook to re-
cover. Ecls live best in water,
though one will manage to survive
an ho ar or two in . pan OF hot tat,
over a hot coal fire. But water is
their best hold, and they delight to
root round in the mud at the bottom
OF the sea. An eel will out-root a
h , 2, and let him pick his ground.
Eels vary in size as much Is darn.
il ,g needles, and some are not much
larger when they 6rst conclude to be
|e els. A lot Of very ,nfantilc eels
! laying in a pool Of water look as
much like vermicelli soup as any.
hing we remember. As they are
rot called upon to die at an ear ly
nge, their life is Of great length. We
Lave known it TO be over four feet.
About a good sized eel to describe
Is the Bologna sausage size. Taper
one end little tor a tail. cut q cash
in the other tor mouth, and hang
on pair of ears about two inches
long, and you have an eel at rest
We are not quick enough with pen
1 o describe them in motion, bnt any
one who has ever seen Gen. F. f.
Spinners autograph on a grcenback,
can get very good idea from that.
Next to flea or flash Of lightning,
Won do MT find anything much l,vc-
lier than an eel. II catching them
all yon have to do is to hook and pull
them to the top Of the water, and
they will do the rest. As long as we
remember it we shall never forget
the first eel we caught. We were
sitting on the cap Of tho wharf, with
our line in the water some fifteen
iect below us, our hook baited with
a CLAIMS head according to lsobbinsl
when we felt bite and pulled. AZ
our hook came to; the surface an eel
made his appearance and commenced
climbing up our line, hand over
hand, with great speed, and shot In
to the air ten feet above our heals
aud fell upon the wharf, where for
fifteen minutes he executed such
steps as would have drawn tears from
the eyes Of French dancing master.
We then grasrod it to get our hook,
but it slid through our hand like 4
dose Of quicksilver, leaving it cover
ed with q coating Of slime which We
have since learned is the basis OF
Spaulding's celebrated glue. We
cut off that eel and found our line
much knotted and tangled. We
coanted cighty-scven different kinds
OF knots. 1t there be any one who
doubts this story, We can soon con-
vince him Of its truth by showing
hun the exact spot where We sat
when we caught that eel.
Any one going into the business
OF traplng cells for the meat or the
skins, which by plugging the eyes
are handy to have in family, had
better discard the line and provide
himself with an eel spear, which is
as deadly at a short range of twenty
ieet as the needle gun. Spcaring
ccls is dreadful uncertain business,
however. If man is successful he
is generally lucky. As An article Of
TODD cells are mooted question. A
person either likes them or he do mt;
there is no half way; he is never con-
servat,ve IN the matter. Allowing
one relishcs them, We should say that
from two to three feet would suffice
for meal Barring a frozen ear,
there is nothing that will peal hand
Ter than an eel. Cit the skin round
the neck, just under tho ear; take
tho head i'll your mouth, holding II
firmly with your teeth; having on
pair Of mittens, grasp the eel At tho
neck, give : good pull and he will
roll out of his skin as nicely 40 yon
can roll ont OF bed.
Boiled potatoes aud boiled peas
mashed together, and ioi with eour