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Cornugaya Directory 04
Page 06
Many of the smaller species of fishes, upon leaving these winter
resorts, ascend small, clear brooks in large numbers for the purpose
of depositing their eggs; as, when hatched in such a place, the young
will be comparatively free from the attacks of the larger carnivorous
forms. Among the lowest vertebrate often found in numbers in early
spring in these meadow rills and brooks is the lamprey, _Ammocoetes
branchialis_ (L.), or "lamper eel," as it is sometimes called. It has
a slender eel-like body, of a uniform leaden or blackish color, and
with seven purse-shaped gill openings on each side. The mouth is
fitted for sucking rather than biting, and with it they attach
themselves to the bodies of fishes and feed on their flesh, which they
scrape off with their rasp-like teeth. Later in the season they
disappear from these smaller streams, probably returning in midsummer
to deeper water. Thoreau, who studied their habits closely, says of
them: "They are rarely seen on their way down stream, and it is
thought by fishermen that they never return, but waste away and die,
clinging to rocks and stumps of trees for an indefinite period; a
tragic feature to the scenery of the river bottoms worthy to be
remembered with Shakespeare's description of the sea floor."
If so, it is time we were made to understand this more clearly. If
the Church, whether of Rome or England, would lean to some such view
as this--tainted though it be with mysticism--if we could see either
great branch of the Church make a frank, authoritative attempt to
bring its teaching into greater harmony with the educated
understanding and conscience of the time, instead of trying to
fetter that understanding with bonds that gall it daily more and
more profoundly; then I, for one, in view of the difficulty and
graciousness of the task, and in view of the great importance of
historical continuity, would gladly sink much of my own private
opinion as to the value of the Christian ideal, and would gratefully
help either Church or both, according to the best of my very feeble
ability. On these terms, indeed, I could swallow not a few camels
myself cheerfully enough.
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