375 



of the gymnoti is also considered as the principal 

 cause of the want of fish in the ponds and pools 

 of the Llanos. The gymnoti kill many more 

 than they devour: and the Indians told us, that 

 when they take young alligators and gymnoti at 

 the same time in very strong nets, the latter 

 never display the slightest trace of a wound, be- 

 cause they disable the young alligators before 

 they are attacked by them. All the inhabitants 

 of the waters dread the society of the gymnoti. 

 Lizards, tortoises, and frogs seek the pools, 

 where they are secure from their action. It 

 became necessary to change the direction of a 

 road near Uritucu, because these electrical eels 

 were so numerous in one river, that they every 

 year killed a great number of mules of burden, 

 as they forded the water. 



Though in the present state of our knowledge 

 we may flatter ourselves with having thrown 

 some light on the extraordinary effects of electri- 

 cal fishes, a great number of physical and phy- 

 siological researches still remain to be made. 

 The brilliant results which chemistry has ob- 

 tained by means of the pile, have occupied all 

 observers, and turned attention for some time 

 from the examinations of the phenomena of 

 vitality. Let us hope, that these phenomena, 

 the most awful and the most mysterious of all, 

 will occupy in their turn the sagacity of natural 

 philosophers. This hope will be easily realized 



