'298 TORPEDO RAY. 



is commonly ascribed to enchantment. Thus 

 we are told by Oppian that the Torpedo, con- 

 scious of his latent faculty, when caught by a 

 hook, exerts it in such a manner that, passing 

 along the line and rod, it benumbs the astonished 

 fisherman, and suddenly reduces him to a state of 

 helpless stupefaction. 



" Ni%i |U-£V Til VOC^XTj*' &C. 



The hook'd Torpedo, with instinctive force 

 Calls all his magic from its secret source : 

 Quick thro' the slender line and polish' d wand 

 It darts J and tingles in th' offending hand*. 

 The palsied fisherman, in dumb surprise. 

 Feels thro' his frame the chilling vapours rise : 

 Drops the lost rod, and seems, in stiffening pain. 

 Some frost-fix' d wanderer on the polar plain. 



It is affirmed by Pliny that the Torpedo, even 

 when touched with a spear, or stick, can benumb 

 the strongest arm, and stop the swiftest foot. 



It is well observed bv Dr. Bloch that these ex- 

 aggerations on the part of the ancients are the less 

 to be vv'^ondered at when we reflect on similar ones 

 in modern times. Thus, when Muschenbrook hap- 

 pened accidentally to discover and feel the effect of 

 the electric shock fi-om what is called the Ley den 

 vial, he represented it of so terrible a nature as to 

 affect his health for several days afterwards, and 

 declared that he would not undergo a second for 



* There are not \vanting some who insist that this is no ex- 

 aggeration, and that the electricity of the Torpedo is really con- 

 ducted in this manner. 



