202 



THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 



Tbe Torpedo of the Mediterranean is furnished with wonderful 

 organs for this purpose, situated on each side of the anterior 



part of the body, — perfect 

 galvanic batteries, consist- 

 ing of a multitude of small 

 prismatic columns, subdi- 

 vided into cells, and inter- 

 woven with a multitude of 

 nerves, which serve to dis- 

 engage the electric fluid, 

 and discharge it according 

 to the will of the fish, or 

 when it is excited by some 

 external stimulus. The 

 shock of the torpedo is 

 not so strong as that of 

 the electric-eel (Gymnotus 

 electricus) of the Orinoco, 

 which is able to stun a 

 horse, but its power suffices 

 to paralyse the arm of a 

 man. A Sly, or Silurus, 

 found in the Nile or Senegal, 

 and called by the Arabs raasch, or lightning, and one of 

 the many Tetrodons inhabiting the tropical seas, is endowed 

 with a similar faculty of producing galvanic shocks. 



Some fishes, to whom nature has denied all other offensive ( 



weapons, have recourse to stratagem 

 for procuring their food. Hidden 

 in the mud, the Stargazer (Urano- 

 scojjus 8caber) exposes only the tip 

 of the head, and waving the 

 beards with which its lips are 

 furnished in various directions, decoys the smaller fishes and 

 marine insects, that mistake these organs for worms. 



The Angler, or Sea-devil (Lophius piscatorius), a slow 

 swimmer, who would very often be obliged to fast if he had only 

 his swiftness to rely upon, uses a similar stratagem. Crouch- 

 ing close to the ground, he stirs up the sand or mud, and, hidden 

 by the obscurity thus produced, attracts many a prize by leisurely 



Muscles and Electric Batteries of the Torpedo 



Electric Eel. 



