OF FISH. 
263 
or benumbing organs are placed one on each side of the 
gills, reaching from thence to the semicircular cartilages 
of each great fin, and extending longitudinally from the 
interior extremity of the animal to the transverse cartilage 
which divides the thorax from the abdomen, and within 
these limits they occupy the whole space between the skin 
of the upper and under surfaces. Each organ is about 
five inches in length, and at the interior end, about three 
in breadth; they are composed of perpendicular columns, 
reaching from the upper to the under surface, varying in 
length according to the thickness of the parts of the bo- 
dy, from an inch and a half to half an inch. The head 
and body of the torpedo are distinct from each other, and 
nearly of a circular form: the skin is smooth, of a dusky 
brown colour above, and white underneath: the ventral 
fins form on each side, at the end of the body, nearly a 
quarter of a circle: the tail is short, and the dorsal fins 
are placed near its origin: the mouth is small, and, as in 
other species, there are on each side below it, five breath- 
ing apertures. 
The electric rays are found in many of the European 
seas, and the fisherman often discover it in Torbay, and 
som etlmes of such a size as to weigh eighty pounds.— 
They are partial to sandy bottoms, in about forty fathoms 
of water, where they often bury themselves by flinging 
the sand over them, by a quick flapping of all the ex- 
tremities. In Torbay they are generally taken like other 
flat-fish, with the trawl-net: and instances have occurred 
of their seizing a bait. They bring forth their young in 
autumn. 
This fish’s benumbing or torporific quality, is one of 
the most potent and extraordinary faculties in nature. — 
The ignorant stranger might imagine he is only handling 
a skate, when he is instantly struck numb. — Upon touch- 
ing the torpedo with the finger, it frequently, though not 
always happens, that the person feels an unusual pain 
and numbness, which suddenly seizes the arm up to the 
elbow, and some times to the very shoulder, or head. 
Its chief force is at the instant it begins; it lasts but a 
few moments, and then vanishes entirely. If a man do 
