724 PISCES—TORPEDO. 
into the fish’s belly, and pursues his blows with such success, that he leaves 
the ravenous tyrant dead at the bottom; he soon however returns, fixes the 
fish’s head in a noose, and drags him to shore, where he makes a noble 
feast for the adjacent villages. 
Besides the above, there are also the blue shark,! long-tailed shark, tasking 
shark,2 hammer-headed shark, angel shark, fox shark,® porbeagle shark,§ and 
others. 
THE "TOR PE 'D'O.7 

Tue body of this fish is almost circular, and thicker than others of the 
same genus; the skin is soft, smooth, and of a dusky brown above, and 
white underneath; the eyes very small; the tail tapering to a point; and 
the weight of the fish from a quarter to fifteen pounds. Redi found one 
twenty-four pounds weight. The electrical rays are found in many parts 
of the European seas. The fishermen often discover itin Torbay, and some- 
times of eighty pounds weight. They are partial to sandy bottoms, in 
about forty fathoms water, where they often bury themselves by flinging 
the sand over them, by a quick flapping of all the extremities. They bring 
forth their young in autumn. To all outward appearance, the torpedo is 
furnished with no extraordinary qualities; yet such is the unaccountable 
power it possesses, that, the instant it is touched, it numbs not only the 
hand and arm, but sometimes also the whole body. The shock receivet, 
resembles the stroke of an electrical machine; sudden, tingling, and painful. 
{t is, in truth, electric. “The instant,” says Kempfer, “I touched it with 
my nand, I felt a terrible numbness in my arm, andas far up as the shoulder. 


! Carcharias glaucus, Cuv. 2 Selache maximus, Cuv. 
$Zygena vulgaris, Cuv. 4 Squatina levis, Cuv. 
® Carcharias vulpes, Cuv. 6 Samna cornubiensis, Cuv. 
7 The characteristics of the genus Torpedo are a body smooth, depressed, obtuse before 
and nearly circular; anterior border taane by productions of the snout, which exten 
along the sides te meet the pectoral fins; five bronchial openings on each side, beneath 
electrical organs on the sides; teeth small, and pointed; tail short, and fleshy. 
