126 THE ELECTRICAL GYMNOTUS, OR EEL. 



Mr. Bryant mentions an instance of the shock 

 bein"- felt through a considerable thickness of wood. 

 — One morning, while he was standing by, as a ser- 

 vant was emptying a tub, in which one of these fish 

 was contained, he had lifted it entirely from the 

 "round, and was pouring off the water to renew it, 

 when he received a shock so violent as occasioned 

 him to let the tub fall. Mr. B. then called another 

 person to his assistance, and caused them together 

 to lift up the tub, each laying hold only on the out- 

 side. When they were pouring off the remainder of 

 the water, they each received a shock so smart that 

 they were compelled to desist *. 



Persons have been knocked down with the stroke. 

 One of these fish being shacken from a net upon 

 grass, an English sailor, notwithstanding all the per- 

 suasions that were used to prevent him, would insist 

 on taking it up ; but the moment he grasped it he 

 dropped down in a fit, his eyes were fixed, his face 

 became livid, and it was not without difficulty that 

 his senses were restored. He said that the instant 

 he touched it, " the cold ran swiftly up his arm 

 into his body, and pierced him to the heart f ." 



A negro, who attempted to grasp a large fish 

 firmly with his hands, had, in consequence, a con- 

 firmed paralysis in both his arms J. 



Dr. Garden says that, for a person to receive a 

 shock from the Electrical Eel, it is necessary to take 



* Bryant in Amer. Phil. Trail, ii. 167. 



k Smith's Nevis, 100, where this animal is called Cold Eel. 



J My. Flagg in Amer. Phil. Trail, ii. 170. 



