THE SHARP NOSED SKATE. 
I07 
employed in the pearl Hiking, have learned from the fatal 
experience of many of their own number, how much 
they ought to be guarded againlt. Thefe unhappy di- 
vers, are fometimes furrounded, and wrapped up by the 
fins of the manta, for fo this finimal is there called, till 
they are fuffocated : The negroes, therefore, take care 
hever to go down without a fliarp knife to defend them- 
fifives againlt this terible enemy. 
The Torpedo, or EleSlric Ray ' 
I His fpecies inhabits our feas, where it grows to a 
* ar ge lize, fome weighing no lefs than eighty pounds ; ita 
c olour is a dirty clay ; the head and body are round, and 
^ut indiltinctly feparated ; the latter extremely thin, and 
attenuated towards the edges. Behind the eyes are 
two wide foramina, which Willoughby fuppofes, are 
^tended for conveying found f : they are befet with fix 
Cuta heous rags on their inner circumference, and com- 
tunicate with the mouth. 
The torpedo can live only twenty-four hours out of 
^he f ea , and but little longer if put into frelh water; 
tnhabits thofe places where the bottom is fandy, and 
huries itfelf fuperficially in it, by flinging the fand over 
- 1 P°n its back with a vibration it gives its extremities. 
o 2 it 
* Ra!a Torpedo, Lin. Syft, Cramp-fiflv, Wilt 
4 Ichthyo],pa«jrc 3 1, 
