Habits of the Electric Eel. 669 



or securing its prey, or chiefly as a means of defence. I ob- 

 serve that when the eel is eager for food, if it see the prey 

 distinctly,* it swallows it without giving it a shock ; and yet 

 I have reason to believe that at the moment of seizing a fish, 

 the eel discharges its electricity through the water, since a 

 shock has been perceived by a person at that moment having 

 his hands immersed in the tub in which the eel is kept. If 

 the Gymnotus do not see the small fish, he appears to be a- 

 ware of its presence and seeks it ; and during the motions of 

 the two animals if the fish happen to touch the eel, it general- 

 ly receives a shock that paralyses it, causing the victim to 

 float, belly upwards, on the surface, till it comes under tho 

 notice of the eel, which instantly swallows it. 



It frequently happens that a fish, put into the tub when the 

 eel is not inclined for food, will swim about, and even come 

 into collision repeatedly with the eel, without sustaining any 

 injury ; but at other times, under the same circumstances, the 

 eel has killed the fish on its accidentally touching him, and 

 has taken no further notice of it. Again, I have more than 

 once seen the eel absolutely swallow a fish, and disgorge it 

 again in a second or two, perfectly uninjured; the latter 

 living several days afterwards. 



It is curious to observe the manner in which the eel, after 

 seizing a fish, turns it round in its mouth without letting it 

 go, for the purpose of swallowing it head foremost ; the rays 

 of the fins impeding its progress down the animal's throat if 

 he attempt to swallow it in the contrary direction. 



As far as I have observed there is no particular part of the 

 body of the eel at which the shock is received by a single 

 contact, as happens when a fish simply swims against the 

 eel. In one instance a large perch, 8 or 10 inches long, hav 

 ing the axis of its body in a line with that of the eel, was 

 seized by the tail, and at the moment of seizure received a 

 shock which stunned it, from which it did not recover for 

 nearly twenty minutes. But for information relating to the 

 electric action of the Gymnotus, your readers must refer to 

 Professor Faraday's paper lately read at the Royal Society. 



The eel is always most lively immediately after the water 

 is changed, when he amuses himself by swimming round his 

 tub for half an hour together, rubbing himself in the gravel at 

 the bottom, to free his skin from the mucus deposited on its 

 surface. The animal raises its head out of the water every 



* I should state that the eel lost one of its eyes within a day or two 

 after its arrival at the gallery ; but whether from a blow or constitution- 

 al debility I have no means of ascertaining. 



