216 LECTURE VIII. 



the recent and vigorous fish. Matteucci ascertained that, during the 

 discharge, the nerves of the organ were not traversed by any electric 

 current. 



Humboldt has given a lively narrative of the mode of capture of 

 the Gymnoti, employed by the Indians of South America. 



They rouse the Gymnoti by driving horses and mules into the 

 ponds which those fish inhabit, and harpoon them when they have ex- 

 hausted their electiicity upon the unhappy quadrupeds ; " I wished," 

 says Humboldt, " that a clever artist could have depicted the most 

 animated period of the attack : the groups of Indians surrounding 

 the pond, the horses with their manes erect and eyeballs wild with 

 pain and fright, striving to escape from the electric storm which 

 they had roused, and driven back by the shouts and long whips of 

 the excited Indians : the livid yellow eels, like great water-snakes, 

 swimming near the surface and pursuing their enemy : all these 

 objects presented a most picturesque and exciting ' ensemble.' In 

 less than five minutes two horses were killed : the eel, being more 

 than five feet in length, glides beneath the body of the horse and 

 discharges the whole length of its electric organ : it attacks at the 

 same time the heart, the digestive viscera, and, above all, the gastric 

 plexus of nerves. I thought the scene would have a tragic termi- 

 nation, and expected to see most of the quadrupeds killed ; but the 

 Indians assured me the fishing would soon be finished, and that only 

 the first attack of the Gymnoti was really formidable. In fact, after 

 the conflict had lasted a quarter of an hour, the mules and horses ap- 

 peared less alarmed ; they no longer erected their manes, and their 

 eyes expressed less pain and terror : One no longer saw them struck 

 down in the water ; and the eels, instead of swimming to the attack, 

 retreated from their assailants and approached the shore." The 

 Indians now began to use their missiles ; and by means of the long 

 cord attached to the harpoon, jerked the fish out of the water with- 

 out receiving any shock so long as the cord was dry.* 



All the circumstances narrated by the celebrated philosopher, 

 establish the close analogy between the Gymnotus and Torpedo in 

 the vital phenomena attending the exercise of their extraordinary 

 means of offence. The exercise is voluntary and exhaustive of the 

 nervous energy ; like voluntary muscvdar effort, it needs repose and 

 nourishment to produce a fresh accumulation. 



I was so fortunate as to witness the experiments performed by 

 Professor Faraday on the large Gymnotus which was so long pre- 

 served alive at the ' Adelaide Gallery ' in London. That the most 



* cv. p 53. 



