Marvels of the Universe 763 
phenomena he revealed has been made, we are as ignorant as ever as to how this electricity is 
produced. We have yet indeed to discover what electricity is. In the animal kingdom, then, 
it still remains one of the marvels of Nature, and this in the deepest sense of the word. In pursuing 
this theme the savants of to-day have the advantage of Galvani, for wonderfully complex electric 
organs, such as Galvani never dreamed of, have been found to exist in many species of fishes. 
In one or two species these electric batteries are capable of giving very powerful shocks. This 
is especially true of the great scaleless Electric Eel of the Orinoco and the Amazons and 
swamps draining into them. As a matter of fact, it is in no way related to the eels, but to the 
carps and cat-fishes. The eel-like shape has been acquired by a process of transformation, wherein 
the likeness to the eel grew in proportion as it assumed the eel’s habits. But this by the way. When 
full grown, this wonderful fish may attain a length of eight feet, and the thickness of a man’s thigh. 
It is not, however, with its bulk, or its affinities, that we are concerned, but with its electrical 
powers, which are considerable, exceeding those of all other similarly endowed fishes. The electric 
battery runs along each side of the tail, and thus extends along about four-fifths of the whole 
body. It consists of two huge masses of bands, or columns of cells filled with a jelly-like sub- 
stance, and richly supplied with nerves. All that careful dissection can tell us further of this is 
that this wonderful tissue has been formed out of ordinary muscle. 
The Electric Cat-fish, a native of Africa, is only a little inferior in its powers to the Electric 
Eel, for the shocks it is capable of giving are severe ; hence this fish is called ‘“‘ Raad”’ by the 
Arabs—a name meaning thunder. Kept in an aquarium with other fishes, it soon kills its 
companions. Unlike all other electric fishes, its battery is formed by a transformation of the skin, 
and not of the muscles. It envelops the whole body like a mantle between the skin and the 
muscles. 
Third in order of these living batteries comes the Torpedo, or Electric Ray. Here the electricity 
is formed in two large, oval masses of tissue lying on either side of the head. There are several 
species of these Electric Rays, but all agree in their electrical properties. They give, Dr. Giinther 
THE ELECTRIC CAT-FISH. 
Its capacity for producing shocks is only slightly inferior to that of the Electric Eel. Its battery envelops the whole body 
between the skin and the muscles, and is itself a transformation of the skin. 
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