ELECTRIC POWERS OF THE TORPEDO. 2OI 



battery. The electric circuit is directed between 

 the surface of the belly and that of the back. 

 It is said that " there are eleven hundred and 

 eighty-two of these cells in a single organ, all con- 

 nected by nerves, which are electrodes, like 

 conducting wires. When the nerves are cut off, 

 all transmission of electricity ceases; otherwise 

 this transmission continues after the heart of 

 the animal has been cut out and his skin stripped 

 off." 



" The shocks given are subject to the will of 

 the torpedo ; for he may be touched many times 

 without giving one. But when irritated, the vio- 

 lence of the shock will be redoubled." 



Electric sparks have been rendered visible by 

 Matteucci, who applied to the fish two metallic 

 armatures, having arranged two slips of gold-leaf 

 very near each other in the connecting circuit. 

 On irritating the torpedo, a brilliant spark was 

 seen between them. 



" The electrical lobes of the brain of the torpedo 

 are larger than the whole remainder of that organ ; 

 and the density of the electrical nerves is greater 

 than that of the others." 



" The electric force is developed in the electric 

 organ by a disturbance of its equilibrium, conse- 

 quent upon nervous agency. Such a disturbance 

 may be conceived to take place in every one of 

 those minute cells, into which the prism is divided 

 by transverse partitions. By the multiplication of 



