THE SHARP NOSED SKATE. lOy 



employed in the pearl fiiliing, have learned from the fatal 

 experience of many of their own number, how much 

 they ought to be guarded againft. Thefe unhappy di- 

 vers, are fcmetimes furrounded, and v/rapped up by the 

 fins of the manta, for fo this animal is there called, till 

 they are fuifocated : The negroes, therefore, take care 

 never to go down without a fliarp knife to defend them« 

 felves againft this terible enemy. 



"ihe 'Torpedo, or EleBr'ic Ray *. 



JL HIS fpecies Inhabits our feas, where it grows to a 

 large fiza, fome weighing no lefs than eighty pounds j its 

 Colour is a dirty clay ; the head and body are round, and 

 but indiftinftly feparated ; the latter extremely thin, and 

 attenuated to^vards the edges. Behind the eyes are 

 two wide foramina, " hich Willoughby fuppofes, are 

 intended for conveying found |: they are befet with fix 

 cutaneous rags on their inner circumference, and com= 

 municcite with the mouth. 



The torpedo can live only twenty"four hours out of 

 the fea, and but little lon~er if put into frefii \vater5 

 it inhabits thole places wb re 'he botto -ti is fandy. and 

 buries itfelf fuperficialiy in it, by flinging the fand over 

 upon its back with a vibration it gives its extrcioities. 



2 It 



* Rala Torpedo, Lin. Syft. Cramp-fifli, Will, 

 f Ichthj'ol. page 8i. 



