roo
THE _SEAS
armour, and has a prehensile tail.
There is a near
relative
of this
sh
which
lives
in
Australian
waters
(Phyllopteryz egue$) that is a piece of living camouage
'
(Fig. 19).
All the knobs and spines on its body are pro,
'
longed into leaf—like laments, which give the sh exactlythe
appearance of the brown* sea weeds amongst which it lives.'
The TOrpedo, or Electric Ray, a member of the skate
'
.
family, is remarkable for possessing on either side of its '
head
two
organs
capable of
_
_',,—.\Æ
—
-
»generating
quite
powerful
,.
,
electnc discharges.
The electnc
organs —»are composed of .mus—
.
'
cular
tissue
in
the
form
of
'
innumerable small
cells
verti—
“_
.
/
cally arranged, the top surface '
'
of
the
organ
being
electro_'
;
—Î" \
positive, and the bottom electro—
_
@â
negative.
A large sh of this
;
È
species can give a shock suf.
cient
to
paralyse temporarin
:
the arms of a strong man.
At
'
least one species occurs at times
'
’
_
.on
the British coasts, but the
:"
majority live in warmer seas…
'
'
'
FIG. 19.—Phylloÿieryx equcs,
_
'
WHALES
'
'
a
(X
Whales are not shes. "l‘héy
'
belong to the mammalS, that large group of the animal
kingdom the great majority… of which live on dry land.
-
are
'in' fact
four.—îooted animals that, in the
_
long course of evolution, have taken to the -water
_
'
for their permanent :abode._
Their
external structure
has, however, become so changed that they are almost
,“
sh—like in appearance, having the typical spindle shape
.'