PLATE LIII. 
touched with a spear or stick, can benumb the strongest arm, or stop 
the swiftest foot. That the Torpedo cannot be handled with impu- 
nity, when at first taken out of the water, we have the assurance of 
some old fishermen, who have several times caught it in their nets, 
when trawling upon the southern coast for flat fish. They insisted 
that its benumbing influence was felt with equal force, when touched 
with the boat hook, or the hand. Another circumstance related by 
Pliny, is verified by Mr. Walsh, who tells us, that when the Tor- 
pedo is accidentally left upon the shore by the ebbing tide, it buries 
itself in the sand, by briskly flapping the extremities, which falls 
upon the upper surface of the fish, and by that means conceals it 
from view. In this situation Mr. Walsh observes, the Torpedo is 
capable of giving its most violent shock, which is strong enough to 
throw down the passenger that inadvertently treads upon him. Spal- 
lanzani discovered in the course of his experiments, that not only 
the Torpedo in an infant state, but those yet unborn, when extracted 
from the womb of the pregnant female, are able to communicate 
the electric shock with a sensible degree of vigour. Some further 
experiments were tried on this animal, by Dr. John Ingenhouz, at 
Leghorn, in the year 1773, in company with Dr. Drummond, the 
particulars of which are inserted in the philosophical transactions. 
From the remarks of this gentleman we learn, that the Torpedo 
upon that coast lie on a muddy bottom, about twenty miles from the 
shore. He took an excursion to this spot for the express purpose of 
fishing for them, and caught five. Before the nets were taken up, 
he charged a coated jar by means of a glass tube, and gave a shock to 
some of the sailors, who all told him they felt exactly the same sensa- 
tion when they touched the Torpedo. He further learnt, that this 
creature has very little force in the winter, and cannot live a long 
time out of the water. As soon as caught, he put the Torpedos, 
