THE ELECTRIC EEL. 193 



Undeniable proofs of its electricity. 



it, and they feel the shock through the whole 

 body." 



Gronovius soon afterwards published some ex- 

 periments, which an acquaintance of his had 

 made in America upon an eel of this kind, which 

 prove undeniably the animal electricity of the 

 fish. By these experiments it likewise appeared 

 that the electric fluid is communicable to several 

 persons, if the first touch the head of the fish, 

 and the last, who must be at a certain distance, 

 hold one hand in water ; but that no shock is 

 conveyed when the fish is touched with electric 

 substances, as sealing-wax or silk. Muschen- 

 brock, who was an advocate of a-iimal electricity, 

 acquainted his friend Nollet with these circum- 

 stances. Still, however, great doubts were enter- 

 tained of the existence of that fluid, and the sin- 

 gular effects produced by this fish were attributed 

 to certain muscles, of the same nature as those 

 which Reaumur asserted that he discovered in 

 the torpedo. Not long after, an additional argu- 

 ment in favor of animal electricity was furnished 

 by the experiments of Vander Lott, who shewed 

 that by touching this fish with different metals a 

 powerful shock was felt, but that none was per- 

 ceived if it were touched with sealing wax, &c. 

 Fermin went still farther ; he proved by experi- 

 ment that fourteen slaves, who had hold of each 

 other, felt the shock at the same time, when the 

 first touched the fish with a stick, and the last 



VOL. v. NO. 34. 2 B 



