INTRODUCTION 



Physahix with the Cachalot, takes Phalaeua to be 

 Balaena muscitltis, projjerly Ba/aenoptera viuscttlus, the 

 Common Finner, the average length of the males 

 being about 60 feet, that of the females rather more. 



V. Some Animal Idiosyncrasies 



1. Narce, Torpedo, Crampfish, or Electric Ray : 

 H. i. 104, ii. 56 ff., H. iii. 149 ff. In all the Torpedoes 

 the electric organ consists of a large patch of hexa- 

 gonal cells, as many as 4(X) in the larger species. 

 These are placed under the skin on each side of the 

 head, below and behind the eye, and covering the 

 base of the enlarged pectoral fin. They are modified 

 muscle-cells and each is filled with a clear jelly-hke 

 substance. The shock which the animal communi- 

 cates w hen touched is capable of being carried along 

 a metallic conductor, such as a knife or spear, and is 

 said to render the needle magnetic and to decompose 

 chemical compounds. The exercise of this power 

 soon exhausts its possessor and renders a period of 

 recuperation necessary. 



2. Fox feigning death : H. \. 107 ff. " When a fox 

 is caught in a trap or run down by dogs he fights 

 savagely at first, but by-and-by he relaxes his efforts, 

 drops on the ground, and apparently yields up the 

 ghost. The deception is so well carried out that dogs 

 are constantly taken in by it, and no one, not pre\i- 

 ously acquainted with this clever trickerv' of nature, 

 but would at once pronounce the creature dead, and 

 worthy of some praise for having perished in so brave 

 a spirit. Now, when in this condition of feigning 



Ixix 



