Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-10-10
LIVING BATTERIES.
Fishes Produce Shock Strong Enough
to Kill Animals.

W Nii
OF all the wonders which perplex
the wise men Of the world the origin
of the mysterious electric current Is
the greatest Second only to this baf-
fling secret is the marvellous and as
tonishing living batteries Of certain
fishes which have the magical power
of producing their own electricity at
will and in quantities large enough to
meet These animated "live wires' in
the shape of fishes inhabit various
parts Of the seven seas, and although
scientists have studied them assidu-
ously for years their secrets are still
hidden in the microscopic cells Of their
electrical organs.
Foremost among these piscatorial
dynamos Is the electric eel Of the
brackish waters of South America.
This eel Is not unlike the common riv-
er eel familiar to every one. 1t grows
to the astonishing length Of six and
seven feet but the average specimens
Of this species are about four feet long.
This eel is nothing more than a fish
in an extended and elongated form
which possesses q powerful electric
battery near the tail, with which It
stuns its prey and drives away its nat
ural enemies. Indeed few denizens Of
the deep would care to experience a
second encounter with an electric eel.
When attacked it merely claps its
"live wire" caudal appendage against
its enemy and presses the button. In
simultaneously the victim gets a pow
erful shock Of electricity which Is
strong enough to knock a man down.
Dissect an electric eel If you please;
the secret will defy you. You will find
that the electrical organs consist Of two
pairs of longitudinal organs located
between the skin and the muscles Of
the caudal region. They consist Of 240
cells, supplied by more than 200
nerves. The eel can discharge current
enough to kill an animal Of considera-
BILE size and can easily knock down
man or horse. After a few consec-
utive shocks the battery Is exhausted,
and the eel has to retire to nearby
mudbank to rest 80 that he can gen.
crate new supply. In an hour or two
he is ready for the next victim.
This eel is very good to eat, but no
one cares to take them off the hook,
so the common way to cook them is to
drive horses into the bayous where
they are known to be plentiful. The
eels attack the horses and quickly ex-
haust their batteries. When they are
powerless to do any further electro
cution, they are speared by the ma
tives. Not infrequently horses are lost
in this manner of fishing.
Now the eel Is not the only fish to
be safe-guarded by powerful electric
batteries. There Is the torpedo ray,
or skate, which looks like three cor
nered kite with a long tail, equally
dangerous to handle without rubber
gloves. There are also several quite
unrelated fishes which possess this ex-
traordinary property Of communicat-
ing an electric shock to animals with
which they come in contact.
In all cases the electrical organs are
notifications of muscular tissues look
ing like a mass of closely packed
prisms, each divided into series of
compartments filled with gelatinous
substance. The whole is like group
of voltaic piles.
The electric ray has Its batteries To-
Gated near the head and supplied with
energy from large nerves proceeding
from the brain. 1t Is an ugly custom
er and can give as much trouble as
the electric eel; man getting shock
from a large specimen will remember
it for a long time, If 1t doesn't kill him
outright Even the little rays can
give a shock when molested in any
way. The electric ray is a member Of
the skate family, and most skates pro-
duce more or less electricity, but the
ray is the only one which is dangerous
to handle.
Then there is the electric catfish
from the Nile, which carries around a
powerful storage battery concealed
under its skin next to the muscles.
The battery is layer or blanket Of
electric cells covering most of the
body. The current can be discharged
at will. and 1t is quite powerful, but as
the fish never attains huge proper
tions its current is never dangerous to
anything except small animals.