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no muscles formed for great exertion, nor any 

 internal conformation differing from the Ray 

 kind ; yet such are the wonderful powers it pos- 

 sesses, that in an instant it can paralyse the 

 hand or body that touches it, and cause for 

 awhile a total suspension of the mental faculties. 

 Reaumur has by several experiments attempted 

 to demonstrate that it is not necessarily, but by a 

 voluntary effort, that the Torpedo benumbs the 

 hand that touches it. On every trial he could 

 readily perceive when it intended to give the 

 stroke, and when it was about to continue in- 

 offensive. In preparing to give the shock, it 

 flattened its back, raised its head and tail, and 

 then by a violent contraction in the opposite di- 

 rection, struck with its back against the finger 

 that touched it ; and its body, which before was 

 flat, became round and lumpy. It is said, that 

 the negroes can handle the Torpedo without be- 

 ing affected ; and we are told the whole secret 

 of securing themselves from its shock consists in 

 keeping respiration suspended at the time. The 

 electrical power, however, is known to terminate 

 with the life of the animal, and when dead it is 

 handled or eaten with perfect safety. It is an 



