ELECTRIC FISHES :-GYMNOTUS. 
341 
means of organs specially adapted for the purpose; and of 
discharging it at will, with considerable violence. It is re¬ 
markable that all these belong to the class of Fishes ; 1 and that 
they should differ alike in their general conformation, and in 
their geographical distribution. Thus, the two species of 
Torpedo, belonging to the Eay tribe, are found on most of 
the coasts of the Atlantic and Mediterranean; sometimes so 
abundantly, as to be a staple article of food. The Gymnotus, 
or Electric Eel, is confined to the rivers of South America. 
The Malapterurus (commonly known as the Silurus) which 
approaches more nearly to the Salmon tribe, occurs in the 
Eiger, the Senegal, and the Eile; and there are two other less 
known Eishes, said to possess electric properties, which inhabit 
the Indian seas. 
420. Of all these, the Gymnotus (fig. 176) is the one which 
possesses the electric power in the most extraordinary degree. 
It is an eel-like fish, having nothing remarkable in its external 
appearance; its usual length is from six to eight feet, but it 
is said occasionally to attain 
the length of twenty feet. This 
fish will attack and paralyse 
horses, as well as kill small 
animals; and the discharges of 
the larger individuals sometimes 
prove sufficient to deprive even 
Men of sense and motion. This 
power is employed by the fish to 
defend itself against its enemies; 
and even, it is said, to destroy 
its prey (which consists of other 
fishes) at some distance; the pi g# m.— gymnotus. 
shock being conveyed by water, 
as a lightning-conductor conveys to the earth the effects of 
the electric discharge of the clouds. The first shocks are 
usually feeble; but as the animal becomes more irritated, 
their power increases. After a considerable number of power¬ 
ful discharges, the energy is exhausted, and is not recovered 
for some time; and this circumstance is taken advantage oi 
in South America, both to obtain the fishes (which afford 
1 Certain Insects and Mollusks have been said to possess electrical 
properties ; but no special electric organ has been discovered, in them. 
