SCIENC I 



575 



Science, 

 ( 



of stagnant water. Here they are sometimes caught 

 with nets, but this is a very difficult operation, as the 

 eels bury themselves in the sand like serpents. The 

 natives sometimes intoxicate them by throwing into 

 the pools the roots of the Piscidea erithri/na and Joe- 

 tjumiu armillarif ; but the most effectual method is to 

 fish them by wild horses and mules. For this pur. 

 pose, about thirty horses are forced into the pool, and 

 the noise of their hoofs drives the eels from the mini, 

 and exasperates them to combat. 



The yellowish and livid eels, which are like large 

 aquatic serpents, betake themselves to the surface of 

 of the water, and crowd beneath the bellies of the 

 horses. In order to keep the horses in the pool, the 

 Indians surround it with harpoons and long reeds, 

 and some of them being placed on the trees, whose 

 branches stretch over the surface of the water, they 

 raise their wild cries, and, by the use of the reeds, pre- 

 vent the horses from running away. Stunned by the 

 noise, the eels defend themselves by renewed strokes 

 of their electrical batteries ; and the horses, confound- 

 ed by their violence as well as frequency, sometimes 

 disappear under the water, while others panting and 

 roaring, and excited by pain, endeavour to flee from 

 the combat. The Indians generally succeed in driv- 

 ing them back again into the water ; but the few who 

 do elude their vigilance, regain the shore, stumbling 

 at every step, and stretch themselves on the land, ex- 

 hausted and benumbed. In less than five minutes 

 Humboldt saw two horses drowned ; but he supposes 

 that they were not killed but stunned by the eels ; and 

 that they perished from the impossibility of rising 

 amid the fray. 



The electric eels soon become wearied by their ex- 

 ertions, and, as their galvanic force diminishes, the 

 horses and mules become less frightened, and the eels 

 approached timidly to the margin of the pool, where 

 they are easily taken by small harpoons and fastened 

 to long cords. In this way were caught five large 

 eels, the greater part of which were but slightly 

 wounded. The Indians assured Mr. Humboldt that 

 when the horses ran for two days in succession into 

 the same pool, none were killed the second day. 



Several of these eels were from five feet to five feet 

 three inches long ; and one which was three feet ten 

 inches long weighed twelve pounds. See Huraboldt's 

 Personal Narrative. 



8. On the Electr icily rfthe Cat. 



The following method of obtaining an electrical 

 shock from a cat has been published by Mr. Glover. 

 He places his left hand under the throat, and with 

 the middle finger and the thumb he slightly presses 

 the bones of the animal's shoulder, then when the 

 right hand is gently passed along the back, percep- 

 tible shocks- of electricity will be felt in the left hand. 

 See Phil. Mag. p. 407. 



It has also been stated that shocks are obtained if 

 the tips of the ears are touched after friction has been 

 applied to the back. 



9- Account of the Fire of St. Elmo. 



Account of The very singular meteor which bears this name 



the tire of has been repeatedly observed at sea. It generally 



St. Elmo, appears when the atmosphere is in a highly electrical 



state. The following description of it as observed in 



On the 

 electricity 

 of the cat. 



June 1818 in the Mediterranean, has been given by 

 an accurate observer. 



" About nine, when the ship wai becalmed, the dark- 

 ness became intense, and was rendered still more 

 ble by the yellow fire that gleamed upon the horizon to 

 the south, and aggravated by the deep toned thunder 

 which rolled at intervals on the mountain!, accom- 

 panied by repeated flashes' of that forked lightning 

 whose excentric course and dire effect* set all des- 

 cription at defiance. By half past nine the hand* 

 were sent aloft to furl top gallant sails and reef the 

 top sail in preparation for the threatening storm. 

 When retiring to rest, a sudden cry of St. Elmo and 

 8t Am was heard from those aloft, and fore and aft 

 the deck. On observing the appearance of the masts, 

 the main top gallant mast-head, from the truck for 

 three feet downwards, was completely enveloped in a 

 blaze of pale phosphoric light, flitting and creeping 

 round the surface of the mast. The fore and mizen 

 top-gallant-mas'-heads exhibited a similar appearance. 

 This lambent flame preserved its intensity for the space 

 of eight or ten minutes, and then it gradually became 

 fainter till it diminished at the end of half an hour. 

 During its continuance, and through the rett of the 

 night, the wind continued light and variable, and the 

 morning was ushered in with a clear sky, a hot sun, 

 and a light southerly breeze. 



10. On a singular Electrical Phenomenon observed un 

 Ben- Nevis. 



In our article on ELECTRICITY, Vol. VIII. p. 47 1 , On * n- 

 we have given a very interesting account of electrical S^* r "**' 

 phenomena, observed on Mont Breven in 17(J7, and tr 

 on Mount JEtna in 1814. A very curious phenomenon ^ ,!\ 

 of an analogous kind was observed in our own country Ikn-Ntru. 

 on the 27th of June 1825, by Dr. Hooker's Botani- 

 cal party. The following details of it are taken from 

 a very excellent account of the phenomenon, by the 

 Rev. John Mac vicar, who was one of the party, pub- 

 lished in Dr. Brewster's Journal of Science, vol. iii. 

 p. 312. 



" The weather, for some days previous, was extreme- 

 ly rainy and disagreeable; for the temperature was 

 low, and the ruin was accompanied with a fog and a 

 fresh breeze of wind. On Saturday morning, how. 

 ever, the rain ceased, and the clouds hung in the at- 

 mosphere in the form of immense cumuli and cumu- 

 lostrati. The nimbus also was j-een in various quar- 

 ters, and before mid-day, the district of Ben-Nevis 

 was visited by one of these clouds, which poured rain 

 almost without interruption, during the greater part 

 of the day. About 2000 feet of the altitude of the 

 mountain were immersed in the cloud ; and from the 

 observations of those who ascended to the summit, it 

 appears that this was not much less than its general 

 thickness, for they frequently saw its upper surface. 

 On Sunday, the weather improved ; and, on the morn- 

 ' ing of Monday the 27th, it was still better, though it 

 wa> not yet changed. As the morning advanced, 

 however, the sky became more overcast, and about 

 ten o'clock a shower came on, and rain continued to 

 fall suddenly, and -.vit'i much interruption, during all 

 the forenoon. The wind was constantly varying, and 

 had a different direction in every glen, but the pre- 

 vailing course was from the south-ea^. The tempe- 

 rature was low, so that the people about Fort- William 

 thought that it was very cold. 



