202 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 
The Torpedo of the Mediterranean is furnished with wonderful 
organs for this purpose, situated on each side of the anterior 
Muscles and Electric Batteries of the Torpedo. 
and called by the Arabs vraasch, 
part of the body, — perfect 
galvanic batteries, consist- 
ing of a multitude of small 
prismatic columns, subdi- 
vided into cells, and inter- 
woven with a multitude of 
nerves, which serve to dis- 
engage the electric fluid, 
and discharge it according 
to the will of the fish, or 
when it is excited by some 
external stimulus. The 
shock of the torpedo is 
not so strong as that of 
the electric-eel (Gymnotus 
electricus) of the Orinoeo, 
which is able to stun a 
horse, but its power suffices 
to paralyse the arm of a 
man. A Sly, or Silurus, 
found in the Nile or Senegal, 
or lightning, and one of 
the many Tetrodons inhabiting the tropical seas, is endowed 
with a similar faculty of producing galvanic shocks. 
Some fishes, to whom nature has denied all other offensive 
weapons, have recourse to stratagem 
for procuring their food. Hidden 
in the mud, the Stargazer (Urano- 
ee : scopus scaber) exposes only the tip 
Electric Eel. of the head, and waving the 
beards with which its lips are 
furnished in various directions, decoys the smaller fishes and 
marine insects, that mistake these organs for worms. 
The Angler, or Sea-devil (Lophius piscatorius), a slow 
swimmer, who would very often be obliged to fast if he had only 
his swiftness to rely upon, uses a similar stratagem. Crouch- 
ing close to the ground, he stirs up the sand or mud, and, hidden 
by the obscurity thus produced, attracts many a prize by leisurely 
