BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 149 



require. In the tropical climates these fishes, when 

 hotly pursued, are seen springing by hundreds out of 

 the water, and sometimes throw themselves on board 

 of ships in order to escape their various assailants. 

 The predaceous fishes that swim in the ocean, and 

 all the birds of prey that range its surface, seem to 

 be combined against it. It is no wonder, therefore, 

 that the beneficent Author of nature has endowed a 

 fish, exposed to so many enemies, with a twofold 

 power to esca'pe. 



The structure of the Sucking-fish enables it to at- 

 tach itself fkmly to the bodies of animals; that of the 

 Ammodytes, or Sand-eel, particularly the head, is 

 most excellently formed for piercing into the sand. 

 The flatness of the Scate and Flounder enables them 

 to cover themselves up in the sand or mud, when 

 they lie in wait for their prey; and the Turbot is said 

 to be provided with a skin or membrane, which he 

 draws over his eyes when he has occasion to stick 

 fast at the bottom in stormy weather. The Globe- 

 fish is beset with prickles like a hedge-hog, and bids 

 defiance to all birds of prey. The Torpedo benumbs 

 on a sudden, and renders impotent whatever fish it 

 assaults: it is said also to strike the fisherman's arm, 

 when he attempts to lay hold of it, with a temporary 

 deadness. " The instant," says Kempfer, " I touched 

 it with my hand, I felt a terrible numbness in my 

 arm, and as far up as my shoulder. Even if one 

 treads upon it with a shoe on, it affects not only 

 the leg, but the whole thigh upwards." The Tor- 

 porific Eel imparts a sensation similar to that which 



