60 



CARAPO GYMNOTEY 



supply the organ, are much larger than those be* 

 stowed on any other part for the purposes of sen- 

 sation and action ; but it appears to me that the or- 

 gan of the Torpedo is supplied with much the largest 

 proportion. If all the nerves which go to it were v 

 united together, it would make a vastly greater chord 

 than all those which go to the organ of this eel. Per- 

 haps when experiments have been made upon this 

 fish,- equally accurate with those on the Torpedo, 

 the reason for this difference may be assigned. " 



It has been affirmed that the Gymnotus elect ri- 

 cus, even for some time after its death, cannot be 

 touched without feeling its electric shock. This is 

 by no means incredible, when we consider the ef- 

 fect of the Galvanic pile, so well known to modern 

 philosophers. 



CARAPO GYMNOTE. 



Gymnotus Carapo. G. unicolor, dor so apterygio ) pinna ani longU 

 tudine caudcs attenuate?, maxilla spperiore longiore. Lin. Syst. 

 Nat. Gmel p. 1136. 



Brown Gymnote, with the vent-fin of the length of the attenu- 

 ated tail, and the upper jaw longer than the lower. 



Gymnotus macrourus. G. macrourus, maxilla superiore longiore. 

 Block. 



Gymnotus carapo. G. nudus, dorso apterygio, pinna ani longitu- 

 ■ dine caudce attenuate* Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 427. 



r The head of the Carapo is of a compressed form, 

 and the upper jaw projects beyond the lower : the 

 tongue is short, thick, broad, and furnished like the 

 jaws with a great many small sharp-pointed teeth : 



