Texas Nature Observations and Reminiscenses Page: 226
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226 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES.
lance to a snake eels aire ab)lloirenlt
to some persons; lbut an cl's flesh
if properly cooked, is as fine a (lish
as any other fish meat. Somne peo-
p)le fry or 1bake the meat after the
eel is skinned. The best way to pre-
pare them, however, is by putting
the entire eel first inll salt or ashes
an( thereby easily removing the
slimy coat entirely. Then the eel
is laid in vinegar for many hours,
and then thoroughly cooked with
the addition of laurel leaves, pep-
ler', salt, cloves and c (lry. WVhen
thus prepai'ed with some lemon
nice on top, it is a (l(liciols (meal,
also when coilverte(l into jelly.
Eels were hell in great esteem
by) the Greeks and lRoans, and
enormuous prices were some t imies
p)aid for them; by the lgyptians,
on the other ha ndl, they were held
in abhorrence. Their snake-like
appearance has had much to (10do
with the prejudice entertained lby
iany people against eels, an(l to
this may be attributed the fact
that in Scotland this valuable fish
is almost wholly rejected as an ar-
ticle of food. Their value in this
respect has, however, been recog-
nized in England from very early
times.
Eels are very largely consumed
in London, the greater proportion
of them, numbering about 10,000,-
000, being brought alive annually
from Holland in welled boats.
The greatest eel b)reedling estab-
lishmnent in the world is hadt at
Coinmaehio, on the Adriatic, where
an i immense swXa ill) has )een iti-
lized for this tiurpol)se. l'he iil(llis-
try is verve ancient, having vielded
in the Sixteenth entryuy aln lanu-
al revenue of 12,00())pounld(ls to the
l1omian Pontiffs.
Formerly it was l)eli Ve( 1 1
naturalists that the e(el was a
viviporous animal; later observa-
tions, however, shows that the
eel lays its eggs similar to other
fish species. The splawln is gener-
ally deposited at some shallow
place near the water's edge in
sandy soil where, in time, the small\wor'i-like l '(ls ar hliat('l e(l omit
an1l iin somei' regions \where they
abound ore than 1( here, they
swarm by the miillions against the
stream.i a 1('reel) over any o)-
st a('cles encoitei're init lhlir ini-
gra.tory 'rv(11'es after ci'ra\ling over
olbst acles din i ig the(iir inmigration
(a((corl lilig to re'li:able ol( 1serv:-
tion) 51i,(' ti X{i'ty-fou feet ab'( ove
the water's surface to reach the
wvate' tlhead(l.
lurin g \\Xillt' ' '('ls lie h11dl(11(ed
togetlelike so anii:tti5akes, l(
similar to sci(pt l reptiles(, il speas(l\
soil or mudi(l(I xu'\('aVationis and iii
(--ofll:ma tco ltion mit il, ( l ri
spring ti(e, they aVaken and area
then ry\' v\' aiOlus for food and
thus easier to (ateh. lii thr lou r-
alint state 1e nat ies of s caught
(lso tluties kilow exactl where sush it
eecis aisre lot , sVll len theti eels are
easly oniaptn o l ith special spears
-often bl V the hunl ,reds an-(
brought to market. I 0111 Texas
('limate the (el is often caught
also, during t he X .inti('.unless it
hei a veryseveres t olncdone.
One of the most interesting eel
species is thle so-called 'electr f i.eel,
belonging to alln eslpecial family of
eels, 11(1 encountei'e(1 in t lhe mar-
shes of Brazil, where they are ab-
horred an(1 eneolinte'e( with ter-
ror, owing to their peilia clcc-
trical apparatus these eels conceal
and (is('har'ge along (a'h side of
the lowr portion of the tail. 'hmey
alre eate hlv the I1ians of Br~azil,
Whog( genieall kill thlo1t In 1 'iing
at herd of llors(s iito the iniairsho
:and1l theh'('l ex\(\haiist mng tie el'
(le('tctri(' shocks, X\hel also 5me
II 11h 1)ohl1. in hi is tr\els had 'first
(l(5es ib((e t 11(51 ( l('15. amid I trans-
late t In lolOlwi ing frim I1)r. T.
Kl'iienke 's( Gem'mian Xwoks: " Alex-
11(1(1l' VOlt lliitholit '5 Iehen und1l
\W'1iken 1Reisn 11W1(1 \ssen: i
Biogr'aphisches )enkmal."
''In the n1(01' ii('iniit V of (alalozo,
as in the inlhts of' time Orimnoco.
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Menger, R. Texas Nature Observations and Reminiscenses, book, 1913; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth143558/m1/230/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Texas Health Science Center Libraries.