A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail. Index-hunter is a term used mockingly, meaning one who acquires superficial knowledge merely by consulting indexes. The '[holding] the eel of science by the tail' allusion was used in 1728 by Alexander Pope (q.v.).
![A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail. Index-hunter is a term used mockingly, meaning one who acquires superficial knowledge merely by consulting indexes. The '[holding] the eel of science by the](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/tobias-smollett/a-mere-index-hunter-who-held-the-eel-of-science-by-the-tail-index-hunter-is-a-term-used-mockingly.jpg)