212 Mr. cavendish on the Torpedo. 
received under water and out of it, was much lefs than 
before, and perhaps not greater than in the real torpedo. 
There is, however, a confiderable difference between the 
feel of it under water and in air. In air it is felt chiefly 
in the elbows; whereas, under water, it is felt chiefly in 
the hands, and the fenfation is fharper and more dif- 
agreeable. The fame kind of fhock, only weaker, was 
felt if, inlfead of touching the fldes, I held my hands 
under water at two or tnree inches diifance from it. 
It is remarkable, that I felt a fhock of the fame kind, 
and nearly of the fame lfrength, if I touched the torpedo 
under water with only one hand, as with both. Some 
gentlemen who repeated the experiment with me thought 
it was rather ftronger. This fhews, that the fhock under 
water is produced chiefly by the electricity running 
through one’s hand from one part to the other; and that 
but a fmall part pafles through one’s body from one hand 
to the other. The truth of this will appear with more 
certainty from the following circumftance; namely, that 
if I held a piece of metal, a large fpoon for inftance, in 
each hand, and touched the torpedo with them inflead of 
my hands, it gave me not the leafl: fhock when immerfed 
in water; though when held in air, it affeCted me as 
ftronglv if I touched it with the fpoons as with my hands. 
On increafing the charge, indeed, its effeCt became fal- 
lible : and as well as I could judge, the battery required 
to be charged about twelve times as high to give the fame 
lhock when the torpedo was touched with the fpoons un- 
der water as out of it. It muft be obferved, that in trying 
this 
