Every year, usually about the beginning of the spring, the Lampreys leave the sea, where they usually make their home, and make holes or nests in the gravelly bottoms of rivers. Here the eggs are laid, and the mother Lamprey watches near until the eggs hatch. Then she is often seen with her whole family playing about her until they have become well grown, when she takes the whole family back in triumph to the ocean. There are several different species belonging to the Lamprey family. The kind known as the Lesser Lamprey inhabits Europe, Japan and the lakes of South America. It measures from twelve to fifteen inches long. Then there is a still smaller member of the family called the Lampern, which lives in European rivers, and is about six or seven inches long. It hides itself under stones or in the mud, but does not have the same power of suction as some of the larger ones. The Sea Lamprey belongs to the Mediterranean. When full grown it is about three feet long, and its light yellow body is marbled with brown. The Lampreys feed on worms, molluscs and small Fishes. The larger ones often seize Fishes of great size, and suck them like a Leech. All the different kinds of Lampreys are considered very fine and delicate food, and horrible stories are told of how kings and emperors used to raise the best kinds of Lampreys in ponds and feed them by throwing into the ponds live slaves who had displeased them; as they considered the Lamprey had a finer flavor when fed on human flesh. But only one man, a senator of Rome, was really known to do such a dreadful thing, and we are told that when Augustus, the emperor, heard it he ordered all these ponds to be filled up; but not until after many poor slaves had met this awful death, simply because they did not happen to please their wicked master. THE EELS. The Eels belong to the family of bony Fishes, although the Lampreys which they resemble in general appearance, belong to the family of Fishes whose framework is made up of cartilage, or gristle. The Eels form a very large family if we would include the different kinds of bony Fishes that have the same snake-like form of the common Eel. We find these smaller families classed under the name of Apoda; this word means without feet when applied to animals, but when used to describe Fishes, means without the ventral fins which serve in the place of feet.