186 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Description by the Into. Dr. Garden 



for that purpose. They are commonly used as 

 baits for otb,er fish, v but they are also very delir 

 cate eating. These fish are found in the stomach 

 of the porpesse ; an argument that the last roots 

 up the sand with its nose, as hogs do the ground. 



THE ELECTRIC OR NUMBING EEL, 

 OR GYMNOTUS. 



OF this extraordinary fish, which hears a great 

 resemblance both in shape and colour to the 

 common eel, the following very accurate de- 

 scription was given by the late Dr. Garden, of 

 Charlestown,in South Carolina: 



" The largest of these fish was three feet eight 

 inches in length, when extending itself most, and 

 might have been from ten to fourteen inches in, 

 circumference about the thickest part of th,e 

 body. The head is large,. flat, smooth, and im- 

 pressed here and there with holes, as if perforated 

 with a blunt needle, especially towards the sides, 

 where they are more regularly ranged in a line 

 on each side. The rostrum is obtuse and rounded. 

 The upper and lower jaws, are of equal length, 

 and the gape is large. The nostrils are two on 

 each side, the first large and tubular, and elevated 

 above the surface; the other small and level with 

 the skin, placed immediately behind the verge of 

 the rostrum, at the distance of an inch asunder. 

 The eyes are small, flattish, and of a blueuih 



