The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-04-21

A Glance at Life Under Water ~ Sssn
I'm Tanks 1t the Aquarium.

A Glance at Life Under Water as Sssn
I'm Tanks 1T the Aquarium.
In one Of the tanks at ths aquarium
tbsre Is an eel three feet long and thick
in proportion that cane from Cold
Spring Harbos, ON Long Island. IL Is
pow erful-looking creature; as II swims
iszily about. or shakes twist down
through Its length. or takes some one of
the rigid attitudes which 1t now and then
assumes. 1t conveys the ioea of great
strength. and IL is easy to imagine that
strong man would have difficulty IN hold
ing It,
In the same tank there are about n
dozen catfish from the Susquehanna river
a. Havre de Grace. Inc largest Of these
catfish is about fifteen inches In length.
The eel and the catfish are very much
alike in color, and though they arc to-
tally unlike In form, IT seems, to look at
them, as though they were OF wholly un-
related. They live together in the tank
on terms which. II not exactly friendly,
are certainly not unfriendiy At feeding
time the eel. which is the quicker. gets
its share promptly and fully without re-
gard to the catfish. Generally the eel
.ays by ITSELF and wheh not swimming
about 1t is likely to be at one END OF the
tank while the catfish ara at the other;
but when they meet the catfish are
neither frightened nor disturbed by the
superior bulk and strength OF the eel,
whose presence among them thew seem to
take quite as y matter of course.
The catfish are likely 10 huddle all to-
gesher at the bottom of tine tank in one
corner by the opening OF the intake pipe.
Fish In tanks often do this to get the
! first of the new, living, incoming water,
and fish commonly head up against cur.
rent. II the oatishes were where they
could do SO they would bury them.elves
Ia the mud here they crowd together In
heap cownin this corner.
Sometimes the eel which has been
swimming lazily about, or perhaps ha
teen staying motionless over In the other
corner, comes over to the catfish corner
and burrows under the pile Of catfish.
The catfish do not resent this, and 1t
seems as though the eel conscious az IL
may be Of It's own vastly greater
strength, did not come over wantonly to
disturb them, bat more because 1t
wanted to see somebody.
Sometimes IL varies It's approach. The
other day whom the catfish were all piled
together In their corner with their heads
all 1 n one direct ion, toward the wall. tho
eel came over above them In the water
and curved It's body around In the angle
OF the corner over them. Then 1t dropped
bodily down through the water until its
body toucned the nose of the catfish that
was uppermost. Still dropp ing its body.
still curvinR in the angle OF the tank. and
slightly disiodsing those with whioh 1t
came In contact. the eel slid past all the
catfishss until 1t rested O the bottom.
under the noses Of all Of them.
Pretty soon the eel raised itself up
| slowly. raising all the catfishes with 1t.
AS the eel lose further it introdu oed into
it's body, very delib eratsIy, various slow
twists which had I'll effect Of more COM
pletely placing th,in In the water at vari-
ors angles. Finally the Gel formed itself
into perfect ring, resting upen the bot
tom, ana rising vertically in the water.
In this position tne body of the eel pre-
sented an appearance of singular
afren 9th - The Sun