332 On Electricity and its Present Applications. ("June, 
in the ocean’s boundless expanse of water to intercept his 
movements or rouse him to anger and violence. I believe 
that he is abundantly diffused through its whole extent down 
to its utmost depths, and that he is the means of imparting 
life and vigour, and exuberant — almost superabundant — fer- 
tility, to the multifarious and innumerable creatures that have 
their habitation there. The very atmosphere of the sea is im- 
pregnated by him to a greater extent than that of the land. 
The superambient air is ozonised or charged with his in- 
fluence, and thus rendered, as is well known, salubrious and 
life-giving to invalids, after the ordinary resources of medi- 
cine have failed. 
In illustration of these statements it maybe allowable to re- 
fer to the significant faCt that while there are at least a dozen 
fishes that are provided with electrical organs, and capable 
of using them both for sustentation and defence, there are 
no land animals known to be so endowed. The fishes re- 
ferred to “ belong to three widely different groups, — namely, 
rays, eels, and sheath fishes, — which would seem to indicate 
that eleCtric organs have originated independently in each 
group. The eleCtric eel of South American rivers is the 
most powerful of these creatures, growing to a length of 
6 feet, and provided with a pair of batteries containing 
hundreds of minute cells, copiously supplied with nerves, 
and capable of sending forth a shock which will paralyse the 
largest animals.” * 
While it is only within the last few years that man has 
been able to make use of electricity as a weapon of war 
against his enemies, these creatures have for many thousands 
of years — probably before man appeared upon earth — been 
applying their eleCtrical batteries to the art of capturing 
their prey, — eleCtric batteries, be it observed, which “ behave 
in exactly the same manner as those constructed artificially, 
rendering the needle magnetic, decomposing chemical com- 
pounds, and emitting the spark.” 
For the capture and taming of wild and vicious animals, 
might we not be able to take a hint from these faCts in 
Natural History ? 
Electron exerts a mysterious but powerful influence on the 
sensations of living — probably all living — creatures. The 
behaviour of many of the lower animals gives well-under- 
stood indications and warnings of changes of weather to be 
expected from his approach or his movements. In the 
human body, also, he can by his presence induce the most 
Longman’s Magazine for March, p. 529. 
