464 THE TORPEDO, OR ELECTRIC RAT, 



OF TEE RAY TEIBE. 



The Rajs are entirely confined to the sea; and, from being 

 destitute of an air-bladder to buoy them, they live altogether at the 

 bottom, and chiefly in deep water. They subsist on shell-fish, or any 

 animal substances that come in their way. Some of them become (^f 

 a size so lorge, as to weigh two hundred pounds and upwards; in 

 which case they are sometimes dangerous enemies to man, whom they 

 are said to destroy, by getting him down, lying upon, and devouring 

 him. They seldom produce more than one young-one at a time. This, 

 as in the Sharks, is enclosed in a four-cornered bag or shell, which 

 ends in slender points; but which does not (as in those) extend into 

 long filaments. Tlie liver is large, and often produces a great 

 quantity of oil. 



In a fresh state, most of the Rays have a fetid and unpleasant smell, 

 but nearly the whole are eatable. There are about twenty species. 

 Those with which we are best acquainted, are the Skate, the Thorn 

 back, and the Torpedo, or Electric Ray. 



THE TORPEDO, OR ELECTRIC RAY. 



Torpedoes are partial to sandy bottoms, in about forty fathoms of 



water, where they often bury 

 themselves by flinging the 

 sand over them, with a quick 

 flapping of all their extremi- 

 ties. In Torbay they are 

 generally caught, like other 

 ,^ flat-fish, with trawl-nets ; and 

 instances have occurred of 

 their seizing a bait. 



This fish possesses the same 

 property of benumbing its 



TORPEDO. rr J -IJ 



prey, as that already aescribea 

 in the Electric Eel ; and when it is in health and vigor, the shock 

 that it communicates is very severe : but its powers always decline as 

 the animal declines in strength ; and when it expires, they entirely 

 cease. In winter these fish are also much less formidable than during 

 warm weather. 



Dr. Ingenhousz had for some time, in a tub of sea-water, a Torpedo 

 which, during winter, seemed to be feeble. On taking it into his 

 hands, and pressing it on each side of the head, a sudden tremor, 

 which lasted for two or three seconds, passed into his fingers, 

 but extended no further. After a few seconds, the same trembling 

 was felt again ; and again several times, after different intervals. The 

 sensation, he says, was similar to that which he should have felt^ by 

 the dischiirge of several small electrical bottles, one after another, into 



