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Guiana have fhocked his hand at the diftance of fbmt* 
inches from the furface of the water. Perhaps fire emit- 
ted by eels lately taken, might be rendered vifible. 
From the above experiments it appears : i . That the 
Guiana eel has the power of communicating a painful 
fenfation to animals that touch or come near it. 2. 
That this effedl depends ent-ir-ely on the will of t-he eel; 
that it has the power of giving a fmall Ihock, a fevere 
one, or none at all, juft as circumftances may require. 
3. That the Ihock given, or the painful fenfation com- 
municated, depends not on the mufcufar a6tion of the 
eel, fince it fiiocks bodies in certain fituations at a great 
difiance; and fince particular fubfiances only will con- 
vey the fliock, while others, equally elafiic or hard, re- 
fufe to convey it. 4. That the fliock mufi therefore 
depend upon fome fluid, which the eel difcharges from 
its body. 5. That as the fluid difcharged by the eel af- 
fects the fame parts of the human body that are aflecfied 
by the elecfiric fluid ; as it excites fenfations perfe<fily fi- 
milar; as it kills or firms animals in the fame manner; 
as it is conveyed by the fame bodies that convey the elec- 
tric fluid, and refufes to be conveyed by other bodies 
that refufe to convey the eledtric fluid, it mufi alfo be 
the true eledtrical fluid ; and the fliock given by this eel 
mufi be the true eledfrical fliock. 
P 2 
XI. An 
