ELECTRIC APPARATUS OF THE TORPEDO. 269 



which it is suspended. These have been known to be suffi- 

 ciently violent to compel the men to let go when they are 

 drawing their nets, and thus allow the whole haul to fall 

 back into the sea. 



The Torpenididoej as this family is termed, has been 

 divided into a number of genera. They have a short and 

 not very thick tail, cylindrical towards the end, and in out- 

 ward appearance somewhat resemble a skate, and have 

 nearly the same habits. Two species of the torpedo are 

 occasionally found on the southern coasts of England, the 

 common, or Marmorata, which sometimes attains a large 

 size, weighing a hundred pounds; and the Nohiliana, which 

 is more rare. They are readily distinguished by the spira- 

 cles behind the eyes, which are round and fringed at the 

 edges in the former and perfectly smooth in the latter. 

 These and other species are found more plentifully in the 

 Mediterranean. When the torpedo is disposed to " astonish " 

 any one, she furnishes to a careful observer the following 

 premonitory indications of her intentions: the back — which, 

 unlike that of the cat — is gibbous and raised when she is in 

 good humor, iSiattens as she waxes angry, till the convex 

 surface, gradually drawn in, becomes at length slightly con- 

 cave ; and at the same time the eyes, remarkably prominent 

 during the repose of the creature, are retracted far back in 

 the orbits. These are the precursory signals that the phials 

 of her wrath are to be poured forth; the shock then 

 instantly follows, and the fish as suddenly swells out again, 

 recovering its usual form, generally to prepare for a new 

 attack. These shocks follow in rapid succession: she some- 

 times inflicts forty or fifty broadsides in the course of one 

 minute, and they are sufficiently powerful to destroy, as by 

 lightning, small animals exposed to their influence. 



Cuvier describes the electric apparatus of this fish to 

 consist of a series of honeycombed-looking cells, filled with 



