PLATE LIII. 
4 
Germ. — Krampfisch. IT oil . — Torpcdine Sardinia • 
Occhiatella Rome, Salvian. 
Torpedo, Cramp-fish. Will. Ichtli. 81. RaiiSyn. Rise. 23. 
Electric Ray. Penn. Brit. Zool. Vol. 3. p. 89. sp. 36. 
It was not before the latter part of the preceding century that the 
Torpedo was clearly proved to be an inhabitant of the British seas. 
The first account of it as such that may be relied upon, is contained 
in a letter addressed by Mr. Walsh to the late Mr. Pennant, dated 
June 23, 1774, which, was laid before the Royal Society of London, 
and published in their transactions of that year. “ To the author 
of the British Zoology (says Mr. Walsh) it will, 1 am persuaded, be 
no uirwelcome information, that the Torpedo, or Electric Ray, fre- 
quents the shores of this island, contrary to a received opinion among 
naturalists, who have, in general, considered it as an inhabitant only 
of warmer climates.” 
In consequence of the enquiries set on foot by Mr. Walsh in some 
of our southern fishing ports, he had received several Torpedos from 
the coast of Devonshire, when this information was communicated. 
These were chiefly from Torbay. One obtained from Brixham 
weighed fifty-three pounds avoirdupois weight, and measured four 
feet in length, two feet and a half in breadth, and four inches and a 
half in extreme thickness. The size of this Fish, as Mr. Walsh 
observes, was enormous, for, he tells us, the largest of seventy sf e ' 
cirnens examined by him in the neighbourhood of Rochelle, where 
they are not uncommon, weighed little more than ten pounds, and 
