TIGERS OF THE DEEP 



Other circumstances cause the discharge of electricity — 

 without inflicting a shock. But if it is repeatedly irritated 

 or teased the discharge inevitably occurs. The shock 

 varies considerably in its effect on different individuals. 

 Fishermen may be made aware of the fact that they have 

 a torpedo in their meshes by a sudden shock through 

 their arms and chests as they are hauling in a net. An 

 angler may receive a discharge of electricity if the line he 

 is holding is wet and if it fouls one of the creatures. 



In one particular experiment with a torpedo it was 

 placed in a vessel of water with a live duck, which at first 

 swam around without touching it. The torpedo became 

 excited, moved towards the duck and contacted it — and 

 the bird was instantly killed. A writer in Land and Water 

 in 1869, replying to Buckland the noted zoologist, 

 observed : 'T have taken two torpedoes in the estuary of 

 the Tees. You say the one you dissected had nothing in 

 its stomach. I was curious to see what those I caught 

 were living upon, so I put my knife into one, and took 

 from him an eel 2 lbs. in weight, and a flounder nearly 

 I lb. The next one I opened also, and was astonished to 

 find in him a salmon between 4 and 5 lbs. weight : and 

 what I was more astonished at was that none of the fish 

 had a blemish of any description, showing that your idea 

 of the fish killing his prey with his electrical force is quite 

 correct." 



Experiments have shown that the upper surface of the 

 torpedo corresponds with the copper plate of a simple 

 battery, and the lower surface with the zinc plate. Among 

 numerous experiments which have been conducted with 

 electric fishes, one of the most remarkable was that of 

 Professor Ewart, who demonstrated the fact that the 

 common Skate — not included among electric fishes but 

 nevertheless a member of the Shark group — possessed a 

 rudimentary electric organ and could produce faint 

 electrical discharges. 



It has been shown that all the electric organs of the 



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