TORPEDO. 107 



the ray, but this, alone, possesses to a consider- 

 able degree, the electrical property. In structure, 

 the torpedo does not seem to differ essentially from 

 the family of rays in general. The electrical or- 

 gans are lodged each side of the gills, — reaching 

 to the cartilages of the great fins. Each lateral 

 battery is about five inches long — being constituted 

 by plates of membrano-cartilaginous substance, 

 the interstices of which are filled with a gelatinous 

 fluid. Their color is a dusky brown, — the skin is 

 smooth, the tail short, and the mouth small, with 

 five breathing apertures. 



The apparatus of the torpedo, is analagous, in 

 character, to that of the gymnotus, or electrical 

 eel of Surinam. In the summer of 1827, Thomas 

 Trask, Esq. American Consul at Surinam, suc- 

 ceeded in bringing a live one to Boston, in a 

 barrel of water. Although we had the best oppor- 

 tunity, two days in succession, for experiment, 

 with extreme regret, we were completely un- 

 successful in getting an electric shock. It was 

 irritated, — roused with iron as well as wood, but 

 there was no exhibition of that power which we 

 hoped to have experienced. 



Either the new climate, the different kind of 

 water in which it was kept, its being changed daily, 

 or the influence of other causes, deprived it of the 

 faculty of secreting electricity, or its spirit was so 

 subdued, that it was indifferent to stimuli. 



