262 



THE TORPEDO. 



The lower surface is here represented :* a, the mouth, before which, in 

 the shadow, are the nostrils, b b, the gill holes, for breathing, c c, the 

 places where the electric organs are situated ; and where, if the integuments 

 were removed, the under ends of the pillars would be seen like a delicate 

 network. The light spaces outside of c c, are the situations of the cartilages 

 of the pectoral mis, which fins form the dark edges, d, the situation of the 

 transverse ligament which separates the thorax from the abdomen. 



THE TORPEDO, or CRAMP-FISH, (torpedo vulgaris,} is 

 found on the British coasts, though not very frequently. 

 The specimens that have been met with, have varied 

 very much in size, some being four feet and a half in 

 length, and more than seventy pounds weight. Lin- 

 naeus classed this fish with the scate tribe, under the 

 name of raia torpedo, but it has few characters in 

 common with them, except that it is cartilaginous, and 

 the breadth considerable, as compared with the length ; 

 but its shape is unlike. The head and thick part of 

 the body form a roundish lump, from which the tail 



