ON THE TORPEDO, 181 



fubjecl. At Genoa, we perceived fome ; but we were then The torpedo 

 without our inftrunients. At Civita Vecchia we fought thera and^NaJlesrbut 

 in vain. But during our ftay at Naples we frequently pro« notatCiviu 

 cured foaie very large and lively ones. In this letter you will "^ "' 

 find detailed the experiments made by M. Ga y-Luflac and 

 myfeif on the powers of this fifli (Raja-tnrpeda of Linneus). 

 M. de Buch, a German mineralogift, well acquainted with all 

 the branches of phyfical fcience, was witnefs to our proceed- 

 ings. I fend you the refults, giving fimple fafts, unmixed 

 with theoretical fpeculations. Our experiniCnts were chiefly 

 dirc6led towards the difcovcry of that ftale of the torpedo 

 when it was lead capiible of exerting its power upon the hu- 

 man frame. This power has been generally defcribed as The fliock of 



elearical ; but the fenfation produced by it is materially differ- ^^e torpedo feeb 



. , ,./- , r -T A \ ■ I different from 



ent from thai caufed by the difcharge or a Leyden phial. — that of cleQri- 



Having no other book by us befides the work wherein Aldini* "'X* 



combines the refearches of Geoffroy with thofe of Spallanzani 



and Galvani, it is not to be expedted that we fliould compare 



our experiments with thole which may have been previoufly 



made by other philofophers. 



1. Though the f^rength of the torpedo is far inferior to that Powers of tlic 



of the gymnotus, it is equally capable of caufing painful fen- toThofe'of"he 



fations. A perfon much accuftomed to eleftric fliocks, can gymnotus of 



hardly fiiflain that of a lively torpedo of four decimeters (16 shod^of"h«s 



inches) in length. The animal ac^s under w:iter, and it is torpedo more 



only when it iofes ftrengih that the fluid impedes its a^ion. '^!?^^"lf^'"^''^* 

 ■' . * 'of eleftncity. 



In this ca(e, M. Gay LufTac obferved that the fliock is not It afts under 



perceptible till the hfli is raifed above the furface. • '^« water, 



2. I oblerved, when in South America, that the gymnotus — and feems to 

 gives the niofl violent (hocks without any exterior movement "^'^ ™"^^ ^^o^t 

 of the eyes, the head, or the fins : it appeared as tranquil as notus. 



a perfon when pafling from one idea to another, or from one 



fenfation to another. Not fo the torpedo : We obferved a 



convulfive movement of the peftoral fins, each time it gavie a 



fliock, which was more or lefs violent according as the furface 



was larger or (mailer wherein the conta6t took place, 



S. The powers of the torpedo and g>mnotus cannot be ex- Shocks frotn the 



cited at pleafure, as we {hould difcharge a Leyden phial or a ^"'P^*^** ^""^ 



' a J I gymnotus can- 



not ba obtained 



* Memoires fqr la Torpille, dans rEflai fur le Galvanjfm, but by irritating 

 Vol. II. p. 61. the animal. 



<:ondu£lor. 



