INTRODUCTION. 79 



said to possess the property of stinging. Others, 

 again, lurk in concealment, and dart out upon the 

 casual passers by. The Rostrated Chaetodon em- 

 ploys a most singular property of propelling a drop 

 of water with unerring aim and considerable force 

 at insects which have settled on aquatic plants, 

 seizing them on their fall into the water. But 

 of all the properties with which these singular 

 creatures are endowed, either for attack or 

 defence, that of the benumbing and electric 

 stroke of the Torpedo and Gymnotus is the 

 most remarkable. Experiments have tendea 

 to confirm its connection with the galvanic 

 innuence. Many an assailant must be most un- 

 expectedly stopped by it ; and the fishes whicn 

 are endowed with it being, in general, of slow- 

 motion, lurk until their victims approach within 

 the influence of their deadly and peculiar power. 

 The fishes which possess this power are but few 

 in number. Among the most noted are the 

 Torpedo known to the ancients, and the electric 

 Gymnotus. In the first, which in outward 

 appearance somewhat resembles a skate, and has 

 nearly the same habits, the electric organs are 

 placed on each side of the cranium and gills, 

 reaching from thence to the semicircular carti- 

 lages of each great fin, and extending longi- 

 tudinally from the anterior extremity of the 



