838 
the first touching the fish with astick*, and 
the last dipping his hand into the water in 
which it was kept. The experiments of Dr. 
Bancroft were equally satisfactory. After this, 
viz, about the year 1773, Mr. 
a letter from Philadelphia to Mr. Walsh, so 
celebrated for his observations relative to the 
electricity of the torpedo, communicated his 
own highly satisfactory experiments on the 
ByDRONS. On touching the aninial with one 
1and, in such a manner as to irritate it con- 
siderably, while the other was held at a small 
distance from it in the water, he experienced 
as strong a shock as from a charged Leyden 
vial. ‘The shock was also readily communi- 
cated through a circle formed by eight or ten 
persons at once ; the person at one extremity 
putting his hand in the water, near the fish, 
while the other touched the animal. | It 
would be tedious to recite all the various mo- 
difications of these experiments, and it is suf- 
ficient to add, that all conspired to prove the 
genuine voluntary electricity of the animal ; 
though occasionally exhibiting some varia- 
tions from the phenomena of common elec- 
tricity. It is by this extraordinary faculty 
that the gymnotus supports its existence : the 
smaller fishes and other animals which hap- 
pen to approach it, being instantly stupified, 
and thus falling an easy prey to the electrical 
tyrant. So powerful is the shockwhich this fish 
in its native waters is capable of'exerting, that 
it is said to deprive almost entirely of sense 
and motion those who are exposed to its ap- 
proach, and is therefore much dreaded by 
those who bathe in the rivers it inhabits.” 
We chserve with pleasure that this ex- 
tract is written in Dr. Shaw’s best man- 
ner, and affords a sufficient proof, that 
when he pays due attention to his lan- 
guage, he isa corréct and elegant writer. 
‘The article is concluded by two accurate 
descriptions,drawn out to a considerable 
length ; the one of its exterior form, by 
Dr. Garden, of Charles Town in South 
Carolina; the other of its internal struc- 
ture, by Mr. Hunter: both copied from 
the 65th volume of the Philosophical 
Transactions. 
The genus odontognathus was insti- 
tuted by Cepede, and derives its name 
from two strong moveable laminz or 
processes attached to the upper jaw. It 
consists of a single species, which is com- 
mon about the coast of Cayenne in South 
America. 
The genera comephorus and triurus 
have been formed also by Cepede, each 
tor the sake ofa single species. 
The comephorus is so cajled, we pre- 
sume, tram the bristle-like ‘rays of the 
second dorsal fin, which stretch beyond 
the membrane; but as such bristle-like 
illiamson, in’ 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
rays are by no means peculiar ‘to. it, a 
more appropriate name might have been. 
devised. The Count is not. always happy 
inthe formation of generic names. . Dr. 
Pallas first discovered it in the Lake 
Baikal. By him it was improperly re- 
ferred to the jugular fishes, and describ- 
ed as a species of callionymus. As such. 
it appears in Gmelin, 
The triurus, or triple tail, owes its 
name to the unusual prolongation of the. 
anal and dorsal fins: the former almost 
as far as the termination of the tail, 
the latter rather beyond it, producing the, 
appearance oi three tails. No morethan: 
five individuals have hitherto been seen ; 
and these were discovered by Commer- 
sonin the stomach of a scomber, in the 
Indian seas. 
The leptocephalus, tho’? unknown. to. 
Linnzus, has for some time beenfamiliar 
to naturalists, from the description of Mr. 
Pennant, in whose British Zoology it was 
first introduced to the notice of the pub- 
lic. Its generic name, which expresses 
the smallness of its head, was given it by, 
Gronovius. 
The stylephorus, so called on account 
of the curious position of. its eyes, which 
stand on-pillars somewhat similar to 
those of the genus cancer, excepting 
that they are considerably broader, was. 
first described and figured by Dr. Shaw 
himself in the Linnean Transactions, and 
afterwards in the Naturalist’s Miscellany. 
The description and figure are copied in 
the present work, Itis a native of the. 
West Indian seas. 
The sternoptyx, so named from the sin- 
gular fold on each side of its breast, had 
already appeared in Gmelin. No more 
than a single species is known, and that 
is a native of the American seas. 
In the thoracic order, the new genera. 
are, gymnetrusy vandellius, macrourus, 
gobiomorus, acanthurus, eques, tricho- 
pus, gomphosus, ophiocephalus, lonchu- 
rus, holocentrus, bodianus and trachi- 
chthys. 
The genus scarus 
adopted by Gmelin. 
The gymnetrus ascanii, which derives 
its generic name from the absence of the 
anal fin, has long. been known to fisher- 
men in the northern seas, preceding or, 
accompanying the shoals.of herrin 
and therefore called by them the king o 
the herrings, on account of its superior 
size, has only within a few years engaged 
the attention of naturalists. It -was first 
had already been 
* Probably a greg or moist one. 
