280 



HISTORY OF FISHES. 



convinced that its power wholly resides in two 

 thin muscles that cover a part of the back. 

 These he culls the trembling fibres ; and he 

 asserts that the animal may be touched with 

 safety in any other part. It is now known 

 also that there are more fish, than this of the 

 ray kind, possessed of the numbing quality, 

 which has acquired them the name of the tor- 

 pedo. These are described by Atkins and 

 Moore, and found in great abundance along 

 the coast of Africa. They are shaped like a 

 mackarel, except that the head is much larger; 

 the effects of these seem also to differ in some 

 respects. Moore talks of keeping his hand 

 upon the animal ; which in the ray torpedo it 

 is actually impossible to do. " There was no 

 man in the company," says he, " that could 

 bear to keep his hand on this animal the 

 twentieth part of a minute, it gave him so 

 great pain ; but upon taking the hand away, 

 the numbness went off, and all was well again. 

 This numbing quality continued in this tor- 

 pedo even after it was dead ; and the very 

 skin was still possessed of its extraordinary 

 power till it became dry." Condamine in- 

 forms us of a fish possessed of the powers of 

 the torpedo, of a shape very different from the 



of Cano de Bera are of a fine olive-green; the under 

 part of the head is yellow, mingled with red. Along 

 the back are two rows of small yellow spots, from which 

 exudes a slimy matter that spreads over the skin of the 

 animal, and which, as Volta has proved, conducts elec- 

 tricity twenty or thirty times better than pure water. 

 It is, in general, somewhat remarkable, that no electri- 

 cal fish yet discovered in the different parts of the world, 

 is covered with scales. 



The gymnoti, which are objects of the most lively 

 interest to the philosopher of Europe, are dreaded and 

 detested by the natives. Their flesh furnishes pretty 

 good food, but the electric organ fills the greater part of 

 the body, and this being slimy and disagreeable to the 

 taste, is carefully separated from the rest. The presence 

 of the gymnoti is also considered as the principal cause 

 of the want of fish in the ponds and pools of the Llanos, 

 where they kill many more fish than they devour. The 

 Indians told us, that when they take young alligators 

 and gymnoti at the same time in very strong nets, the 

 latter never display the slightest trace of a wound, be- 

 cause they disable the young alligators before they are 

 attacked by them. All the inhabitants of the waters 

 dread the gymnoti ; lizards, tortoises, and frogs, seek 

 the pools, where they are secure from their action. It 

 became necessary to change the direction of a road near 

 Uritucu, because these electrical eels were so numerous 

 in one river, that they every year killed a great number 

 of mules of burden as they forded the river. 



It would be temerity to expose ourselves to the first 

 shocks of a very large and strongly irritated gymnotus. 

 If by chance you receive a stroke before the fish is 

 wounded, or wearied by a long pursuit, the pain and 

 numbness are so violent, that it is impossible to describe 

 the nature of the feeling they excite. I do not remem- 

 ber having ever received from the discharge of an elec- 

 trical machine, a more dreadful shock, than that which 

 1 experienced by imprudently placing both my feet on a 

 gymnotus just taken out of the water. I was affected 

 the rest of the day with a violent pain in the knees, and 

 in almost every joint. Humboldt's Personal Narrative. 



former, and every way resembling a lamprey. 

 This animal, if touched by the hand, or even 

 with a stick, instantly benumbs the hand and 

 arm to the very shoulder ; and sometimes the 

 man falls down under the blow. These ani- 

 mals, therefore, must affect the nervous sys- 

 tem in a different manner from the former, 

 both with respect to the manner and the in- 

 tention ; but how this effect is wrought, we 

 must be content to dismiss in obscurity. 



CHAP. IV. 



OF THE LAMPREY, AND ITS AFFINITIES 



THERE is a species of the Lamprey served 

 up as a great delicacy among the modern 



The governor at New Amsterdam has a large elec- 

 tric eel, which he has kept for several years in a tub, 

 made for that purpose, placed under a small shed near 

 to the house. This fish possesses strong electrical powers, 

 and often causes scenes of diversion among the soldiers 

 and sailors, who are struck with astonishment at its 

 qualities, and believe it to be in league with some evil 

 spirit. Two sailors, wholly unacquainted with the pro- 

 perties of the animal, were one day told to fetch an eel, 

 which was lying in the tub in the yard, and give it the 

 cook to dress for dinner. It is a strong fish, of seven or 

 eight pounds weight, 'and gives a severe shock on being 

 touched, particularly if at all irritated or enraged. The 

 sailors had no sooner reached the shed, than one of them 

 plunged his hand to the bottom of the tub to seize the 

 eel ; when he received a blow which benumbed his whole 

 arm : without knowing what it was, he started from the 

 tub, shaking his fingers, and holding his elbow with his 

 other hand, crying out, " I say, Jack, what a thump he 

 fetched me with his tail !" His messmate, laughing at 

 " such a foolish notion," next put down his hand to 

 reach out the eel, but receiving a similar shock, he snap- 

 ped his fingers likewise, and ran off, crying out, " Why, 

 he did give you a thump ! He's a fighting fellow : he 

 has fetched me a broadside too ! Let's both have a haul 

 at him together, Jack ; then we shall board his slippery 

 carcass, spite of his rudder." Accordingly they each 

 plunged their hands into the tub, and seized the fish, 

 by a full grasp round the body. This was rougher treat- 

 ment than he commonly experienced, and he returned 

 it with a most violent shock, which soon caused them to 

 quit their hold. For a moment they stood aghast, then 

 rubbing their arms, holding their elbows, and shaking 

 their fingers, they capered about with pain and amaze- 

 ment, swearing that their arms were broken, and that 

 it was the devil in the tub in the shape of an eel. They 

 now perceived that it was not a simple blow with the 

 tail which they had felt before ; nor could they be pre- 

 vailed upon to try again to take out the fish, but stole 

 away, rubbing their elbows, and abusing ' the trick about 

 the cook and the eel." Pinckard's Notes on the Wesl 

 Indies. 



1 Lampreys. These fishes are, in reference to their 

 skeleton, and in some other respects, the lowest in the 

 scale of organization among vertebrated animals. 



The lampreys, like the sharks and rays, have no swim- 

 ming-bladder; and being also without pectoral fins, are 

 usually seen near the bottom. To save themselves from 

 the constant muscular exertion which is necessary to 

 prevent them being carried along by the current of the 

 water, they attach themselves by the mouth to stones or 



