1XPEKIMENTS ON THE TORPEDO. 125 



gymnoti, of unequal strength, in such a manner as to receive 

 the shocks of the most vigorous fish by contact, that is to 

 say, by touching only one of the other fishes, I did not 

 observe that these last were agitated at the moment when 

 the current passed their bodies. Perhaps the current 

 did not penetrate below the humid surface of the skin. 

 "We will not, however, conclude from this, that the gymnoti 

 are insensible to electricity ; and that they cannot fight with 

 each other at the bottom of the pool's. Their nervous 

 system must be subject to the same agents as the nerves of 

 other animals. I have indeed seen, that, on laying open 

 their nerves, they undergo muscular contractions at the 

 mere contact of two opposite metals ; and M. Fahlberg, of 

 Stockholm, found that his gymnotus was convulsively agi- 

 tated when placed in a copper vessel, and feeble discharges 

 from a Leyden jar passed through its skin. 



After the experiments I had made on gymnoti, it became 

 highly interesting to me, on my return to Europe, to ascer- 

 tain with precision the various circumstances in which 

 another electric fish, the torpedo of our seas, gives or does 

 not give shocks. Though this fish had been examined by 

 numerous men of science, I found all that had been pub- 

 lished on its electrical effects extremely vague. It has been 

 very arbitrarily supposed, that this fish acts like a Leyden 

 jar, which may be discharged at will, by touching it with 

 Doth hands; and this supposition appears to have led into 

 error observers who have devoted themselves to researches 

 of this kind. M. Gay-Lussac and myself, during our journey 

 to Italy, made a great number of experiments on torpedoa 

 n in the gulf of Naples. These experiments furnish 

 many results somewhat different from those I collected on 

 the gymnoti. It is probable that the cause of these anoma- 

 lies is owing rather to the inequality of electric power in 

 the two fishes, than to the different disposition of their 

 organs. 



Though the power of the torpedo cannot be compared 

 with that of the gymnotus, it is sufficient to cause very 

 painful sensations. A person accustomed to electric shocks 

 can with difficulty hold in his hands a torpedo of twelve or 

 fourteen inches, and in possession of all its vigour. When 

 the torpedo gives only very feeble strokes under water, 



