148 A HISTORY OF FISHES 



arisen through the modification of certain cells in the epidermal 

 layer of the skin. In the Star-gazers the electric organs have 

 been shown to be developed from portions of the eye muscles, 

 each of the plates representing a single muscle fibre. 



As to the manner in which the electric discharge is actually 

 produced, comparatively little is known. Various more or less 

 ingenious suggestions have been made which are too complicated 

 to be discussed here, and it must suffice to point out that the 

 available evidence suggests that it is the nervous parts of the organs 

 that play the most important role in the production of electricity. 

 The currents created exercise all known powers of electricity, 

 and in order to obtain the full shock it is necessary to complete 

 the circuit by touching the fish at two points, either directly 

 or through the medium of some conducting body: it is said 

 that a powerful sensation may be produced by a discharge 

 conveyed through the medium of a stream of water. It is 

 generally stated that the fish gives the shock voluntarily, the 

 time and strength of the discharge being completely under its 

 control. It seems more probable, however, that quite often 

 the stimulation produced by anything touching the skin of the 

 fish causes a similar stimulation of the nerves supplying the 

 electric organs by ordinary reflex action. Repeated use of the 

 organs exhausts the fish, and a period of repose is necessary 

 for recuperation. 



There can be little doubt that the Torpedo makes use of the 

 organs to kill or benumb its prey, and of two specimens of the 

 Common Torpedo, taken in the estuary of the Tees, one had an 

 Eel weighing two pounds and a Flounder of one pound in its 

 stomach, and the other a Salmon weighing nearly five pounds, 

 none of the victims showing any marks or blemishes on their 

 bodies. The power of the shock seems to vary according to the 

 number of electric plates included in the circuit, and is also 

 dependent on the size and energy of the fish. It is usually of 

 sufficient strength to knock down a fully grown man if he 

 accidentally steps on one of these fishes lying buried in the 

 sand in shallow water. The Mediterranean species was well 

 known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, to whom it was a 

 food-fish of some importance. Mr. Radcliflfe, in his book 

 entitled Fishing from the Earliest Times, has collected many of 

 the classical references to this fish, which, in addition to serving 

 as food, was regarded as a sovereign remedy for chronic 

 headache, gout in the feet, and other kindred complaints. 

 Still more amusing is the recommendation of the "brains of the 



