THE TORPEDO, OR ELECTRIC RAY. 103 



THE TORPEDO, OR ELECTRIC RAY, 



Is singular both in its conformation and its qualities. Its body 

 is almost circular, and thicker than that of any other of the ray 

 kind. The skin is of a yellowish colour, soft and smooth, and 

 marked with large annular spots: the eyes are small, the tail 

 tapers to a point, and the weight of the fish varies from one to 

 fifteen pounds. 



Although this wonderful creature does not, on inspection, appear 

 to be furnished with any extraordinary qualities — although it has 

 no muscles formed for great exertions, nor an internal conform- 

 ation perceptibly differing from the rest of the ray kind ; yet it 

 possesses the unaccountable power of benumbing, the instant 

 that it is touched, not only the hand and the arm, but sometimes 

 even the whole body. The shock which it gives greatly re- 

 sembles that of an electrical machine, — instantaneous, tingling, 

 and painful. According to Kempfer's relation of his own ex- 

 periments, scarcely any difference can be discovered between 

 the shock produced by electricity, and that given by the torpedo, 

 except that the latter is accompanied by some deleterious symp- 

 toms, such as a universal tremor, a sickness of the stomach, a 

 general convulsion, and a total suspension of the mental faculties. 



The nature of that principle which in the torpedo produces 

 these extraordinary effects, are, and probably will for ever re- 

 main, a mystery ; but we have facts sufficient to ascertain the 

 manner in which this fish exerts its paralyzing powers. 



Reaumur has, by several experiments, demonstrated, that it 

 is not necessarily, but by a voluntary effort, that the torpedo be- 

 numbs the hand that touches it. On every trial, he could readily 

 perceive when it intended to give the stroke, and when it was 

 about to continue inoffensive. In preparing to give the shock, 

 it flattened its back, raised its head and tail, and then, by a 

 violent contraction in the opposite direction, struck with its back 

 against the finger that touched it; and its body, which before 

 was flat, became round and lumped. 



Whether the ascription of this paralyzing faculty to electricity 

 be a just explanation of this phenomenon, is a problem of diffi- 

 cult solution. It is, however, certain, that in communicating 

 the shock to a number of persons in contact, it operates in the 

 same manner as the stroke proceeding from an electrical ma 

 chine. 



It is said that the negroes can handle the torpedo, without 

 being affected ; and we are told that their whole secret of se 

 curing themselves from its effects, consists in holding respira 

 tion suspended at the time. The electrifying power, however, 

 is known to terminate with the life of the animal ; and when dead, 



