A discourse on the torpedo. Delivered at the anniversary meeting of the Royal Society, November 30, 1774 / By Sir John Pringle, Baronet, President. Published by their order.
- John Pringle
- Date:
- 1775
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A discourse on the torpedo. Delivered at the anniversary meeting of the Royal Society, November 30, 1774 / By Sir John Pringle, Baronet, President. Published by their order. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![[-7 ] add, that he mentions diphilus of Laodicea, for taking notice, in his commentary upon the ‘Tberiaca of nigan¬ der, that it was not the whole, but certain parts of the body of the torpedo that occalioned the torpor, hero of Alexandria, in his Pneumatics, mentions this filh as emit- % ting effluvia through brafs and iron and other folid bo¬ dies. pliny, the laborious and ufeful compiler of ancient natural fcience, too little a philofopher himfelf, and too great a lover of the marvellous, has treated this fubjedt accordingly. Thus, he fays, the power of the torpedo may be felt through the length of a rod or a fpear; which is a fadl: but that this fifh binds thedegs of the nimbleft perfon that treads upon it, is an exaggeration; and it is falfe what he adds, that this animal is alfo able to bind the arms of the ftrongeft, at a diftance. plutarch, though no profeffed naturalift, yet fur- * • nifties us with a fuller and jufter account of the torpedo. According to him, this creature not only benumbs all thofe that touch it, but alfo ftrikes a numbnefs through the net into the hands of the filhermen; nay, as feme re¬ port, if it happen to be laid on the ground, alive, thofe N that pour water upon it fflall be ienfible of fome dimi¬ nution of their feeling. Now whether this laft fa<5t has been](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30350359_0009.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
