. The popular natural history . Zoology. Ttik TMORNBACK SKATE. 461 The object of this strange power seeiilS to be twofold, namely, to defend itself from the attacks of foes, and to benumb the swift and active tisfi on wliich it feeds, and which its slow movements would not permit it to catch in fair chase. It does not always deliver the electric shock wiien touched, though it is generally rather prodigal of exercising its potent though invisible arms, but will allow itself to be touched, and even handled, without infiicting a shock. But if the creature be continually annoyed, the shock is sure
. The popular natural history . Zoology. Ttik TMORNBACK SKATE. 461 The object of this strange power seeiilS to be twofold, namely, to defend itself from the attacks of foes, and to benumb the swift and active tisfi on wliich it feeds, and which its slow movements would not permit it to catch in fair chase. It does not always deliver the electric shock wiien touched, though it is generally rather prodigal of exercising its potent though invisible arms, but will allow itself to be touched, and even handled, without infiicting a shock. But if the creature be continually annoyed, the shock is sure to come at last, and in such cases with double violence. It has been observed, moreover, that the fi4i depresses its eyes just before giving its shock. That the stroke of the Torpedo is veritable electricity is a fact which was once much disputed, but is now conclusively proved by a host of experiments. Needles have been magnetized by it just as if the shock had been that of a galvanic battery, the electrometer showed decided proofs of the nature of the fluid that had been sent through it, and even the electric spark has been obtained from the Torpedoâvery small, it is true, but still recognizably apparent. It is rather curious, that in the course of the experimenis it was discovered that the upper surface of the Torpedo corresponded with the copper plate of a battery, and the loii-er surface with the zinc plate. The structure of the electrical organ is far too complex to be fully de- scribed in this work, as it would require at least forty or fifty pages, and a large number of illustrations. Any of my readers who would Uke to examine it in detail will find ample information in an article on the subject by Dr. Coldstream, in the " Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology," and from a valuable series of wax models in the museum of the College of .Surgeons. This fish is found in the Mediterranean andthe In dian and Pacific Oceans, and occasionally off the Cape, and has n
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
