they will die in a few days; but otherwife, they will'continue:
alive in water for feverai months together, and, fhouFd die water
dry away, may b r revived again- by. giving them.a frefh fupply.
As the eels in pafle are an objeft which.are fo often exhibited
in the mierofcope, it will be proper, before we leave this fubjeft,
to inform the reader how he may procure the young eels from
the parent animalcula, a difcovery- which was originally made by
Mr. Sherwood; but more particularly purfued. and defcribed' by
Mr. Baker. Take up a very final} quantity of pafle where thefe
eels abound* on the point of a pin, or with a fharpened quill; lay.
it on a flip of glafs, and diluting it well-with water, many, of them
will become vifible to the naked eye ; then with the nib of a pen;
cut to a very fine point, and lhaved fo- thin as to be extremely
pliable,, fingle out one o f the largeft. eels, and- infinuate - the
point of the pen underneath-it; remove it into a very fmall drop
o f water, which you muff have ready prepared on another flip o f
glafs.. When-thus confined, it may eafily be cut afunder tranf-
verfely, by the help of a good eye and Heady hand, with a lancet
or fharp penknife ;. or if the eye is deficient, a hand-magnifier
will enable almoft any-body to perform the operation; As foon
as the parts- are feparated, apply your objeft to the mierofcope;
and if the divifion has been made about the middle of the animal,
feveral oval-bodies, o f different fizes, will be feen to iffue forth;
Thefe are young anguillae, o f different degrees of maturity, each
whereof is coiled up; and included in it’s proper membrane;
which is o f fo exquifxte a finenefs, as to be fcarce difcernible by
the greateft magnifier while it inclofes the embryo -animal.. The
largeft and moll forward break immediately through this delicate
integument, unfold themfelves, and wriggle about in the water
nimbly;;
nimbly; others get out, uncoil, and move about moreffowly;
and the leaft mature continue entirely without motion. The
uterus or- veffel that contains all thefe oval bodies, is compofed
o f many annula, or ringlets, not unlike the afpera arteria o f land
animals, and it feems to be confiderably elaftic ; for as foon as
the operation-is performed, the oval bodies are thruft out with
fome degree o f violence, by the fpringing back or aftion o f this
bowel. An hundred or upwards o f the young ones have been
feen to iffue from.one. fingle eel,, whereby the prodigious increafe
of them may Be accounted'for, as probably feveralTuch numerous
generations are produced in a fhort time. Hereby we alfo learn
that thefe creatures are not, only like eels in Ihape, but are like-
wife viviparous, as eels are generally luppoled to be.
There is fcarce a more entertaining experiment, in which there
is but little rifk of being difappointed; for they feem, like
earth-worms, to be all prolific, and unlefs by accident you cut-
one that has brought forth all it’s young, before,, or make ypur
trials when the pafle has been kept a very long time, (in which
cafe they have been found fometimes unfruitful) you may be fure
o f fuccefs..
Ariguillula Marina.
This, when preffed Between two plates >of glafs, appears to be
little more than a-cryftalline fkin, with a kind of clay-colouied
inteftines. The fore-part o f the body is truncated, the lower
part drawn out to a fine point, the reft of the body is o f an equal
fize throughout. The younger ones are filled with' pellucid
molecular inteftines,
72. Vibri®