THE LAMPREY. 
157 
sarily, but by an effort that the torpedo numbs the hand of 
him that touches it. He tried several times, and could 
easily tell when the fish intended the stroke, and when it 
was about to continue harmless. Always before the fish 
intended the stroke, it flattened the back, raised the head 
and the tail; and then, by a violent contraction in the 
opposite direction, struck with its back against the pressing 
finger; and the body, which btf’oie was flat, became 
humped and round. 
The most probable solution of this phenomenon is, that 
it depends upon electricity. When the fish is dead, the 
whole power is destroyed, and it may be handled or eaten 
with perfect security : it is now known that there are more 
fish than this of the ray kind, possessed of the numbing 
quality, which has acquired them the name of the torpedo. 
'1 here are two other species of ray, which for their singu- 
lar form deserve to be distinguished. The first is called 
the Sea Devil. Its nose and snout are divided, as it were, 
into two horns ; and its sides are terminated by the fins. 
Its skin, towards the head, is variegated with dusky spots. 
It grows, sometimes, to the length of six or seven feet. 
The Sea Eagle is another species of this deformed tribe. 
It receives its name from its thin and expanded sides, which 
resemble the spread wings of an eagle. Its head, in some 
degree, resembles that of a toad ; its eyes are large and 
prominent. It is generally found small, but is said some- 
times to grow to a very large size. 
The Lamprey. There is a species of the lamprey served 
up as a great delicacy among the modern Romans very dif- 
ferent from ours. Whether theirs be the nuirena of the 
ancients we shall not pretend to say ; but there is nothing 
more certain than that our lamprey is not. 
The lamprey known among us is differently estimated, 
according to the season in which it is caught, or the place 
where it has been fed. Those that leave the sea to deposit 
their spawn in fresh waters are the best ; those that are en- 
tirely bred in our rivers, and that have never been at sea, 
are considered as much inferior to the former. Those that 
are taken in the months of March, April, or May, just upon 
their leaving the sea, are reckoned very good ; those that 
are caught after they have cast their spawn, are found to be 
flabby, and of little value. 
The lamprey much resembles an eel in its general appear- 
ance, but is of a lighter colour, and rather a clumsier make. 
It differs, however, in the mouth, which is round, and 
