St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-06-14

Some curious experiments have beer
made: thus the scientist Marez applied
telephone to the fish. and at every
ordinary shock given he distinctly heard
click. When the fish was greatly ex
cited . loud groan was heard, which
sounded like mi, and the discharge wa:
prolonged four or five seconds.
Such = remarkable contrivance car
but impress the beholder with the fertil
ity Of the resources of nature. Evident
ly protective and defensive, it enables
the sluggish creature to capture certain
prey and to put to fight enemies many
times its size. The electrical discharge
Of this fish is not Of sufficient power "a
ly cnfeebled condition. but that it is
fatal to other fishes has been noticed on
many occasions.
Moreau, q French observer, noticed
turbot fall upon torpedo in . fishing
boat, and the result WAS almost in.
simultaneously fatal. 1t leaped high in
the air upon receiving the shock and
fell back dead and rigid and remained
for some time bent in . curve.
In appearance the torpedo In . AAt fish
with . rounded head and short thick
tail. 1t has . wide distribution, six
genera and about fifteen species being
known. They occur in the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans, although all are not sup
piled with as powerful battery. The
torpedo is often brought into Fulton
market, New York, where its powers are
used to make sport for the fishermen.
who watch with delight the emotions OF
the victim&
The electricians among the animals
are not confined to the ocean, one of the
most formidable being found in the fresh
water streams of South America. This
fish is a large eel, known as the gym
notus. In 1871 . French scientist vis-
tied the Amazon country and was told
by the natives that there existed fish
in the tributaries Of the great river
that could kill men and horses by Am-
ply touching them. charming they e1-
pressed it
Richter naturally considered the story
as fable and refused to believe it until
he had been shocked" by . small fish.
When the naturalist reported the dis
covery in France, he in turn was laughed
At and little or nothing WAS known
about the rgymnotus or its powers until
the time of Humboldt In travelling
through South America he heard that
the fishes were often captured by frst
disarming them by driving wild horsee
into the water.
Humboldt thus describes such fish.
ing: 81 wished, he says, ''that clever
artist could have depicted the most ami.
mated period Of the attack. The groupe
Of Indians surrounding the pond; the
horses, with names erect and eyeballs
wild with pain and fright striving to
escape from the electric storm which
they had aroused and driven back by the
shouts and long whips of the excited In
dians; the livid yellow cells, like great
water snakes. swimming near the sur
face and pursuing their enemy-ali these
objects presenting . most picturesque
and exciting ensemble. rs
I'm less than i've minutes two horses
were killed, The eel, being moro than.
Ave feet in length, glides beneath the
body Of the horse and discharges the
whole length Of its electric organ. 1t
attacks at the same time the heart, the
digestive viscera, and above all the
gastric plexus Of the nerves. thought
the scene would have . tragic termina-
tion, and expected to see most Of the
quadrupeds killed; but the Indians as-
sured me that the fishing would soon be
finished, and that only the first attack
was formidable. In fact after the at
tack had lasted quarter Of an hour the
mules and horses appeared less alarmed;
they no longer erected their names, and
their eyes expressed less pain and ter.
ror.
Zone no longer saw them struck down
swimming to the attack, retreated be.
fore their assailants and approached
the shore. The Indians now began to
use their missiles, and by means OF a
long cord attached to the harpoons
jerked the fish out of the water without
receiving any shock 50 long . the cord
was dry" = F,--.4tt
. Ordinarily the gymnotus, OF electric
eel ranges from two to 1--WE feet in
length, but specimens have been re.
ported rs attaining length Of twenty
feet, and it il supposed that an animal
of this sise could readily kill horse
snd rider; in fact such an occurrence
has been reported, but, lacking con-
should be received with some
allowance, due in any case to the habit
Of .exaggeration found among many
native tribes.
Small specimens Of the eymnotus
have frequently been brought to the
United States. and in one experiment
duck was killed in being forced to swim
over it. The electric batteries, II 50 VIC
may term them, consist Of two pairs Of
bodies situated immediate
" below the skin. one pair on the back
Of the tail and the other near the anal
iin. Et-|
Probably there are many fishes which
have electric powers to . more or les
extent. One of the curious trunk fishes
found in Southern waters possesses
electric batteries of no little power.
The discovery was made BY accident
An English officer was collecting speci-
mems, and perceiving small flsh NOV
ing slowly about in . shallow pool,
seized it whereupon he received shock
which made itself -fsls Mp his- entire
Irm, showing that it was OF, no little
a 4 defense Some Of the