90 NEW SOUTH WALES 



ScLERODERMi, o£ the Order Plectognathi, in which the jaws are armed 

 with a small number of distinct teeth, and the skiia has shields or is 

 merely rough. In M. ayraudi the skin is rough but velvety, the colour 

 is brownish, with three or four whitish longitudinal bands. It attains 

 a length of 18 inches. 



It will be necessary to say a few words about the toad-fishes and 

 porcupines, because they are so poisonous, and yet abundant about all 

 our harbours. In 1874 a fatal accident occurred to some children at 

 Coogee Bay. They were out on a picnic, and having caught some toad- 

 fish, cooked and ate them. They died in terrible agony a few hours 

 afterwards. 



These fishes belong to the family Gymnodontes and the genus 

 Tetrodon^ thus described by Giinther : — 



" Body more or less shortened. The bones of the upper and lower 

 jaw are confluent, forming a beak with a trenchant edge, without teeth, 

 with or without median suture. A soft dorsal, caudal and anal are 

 developed, — appi'oximate. No spinous dorsal. Pectoral tins, no ven- 

 trals. Marine fishes of the temperate and tropical regions. Some 

 species confined to fresh watei\" 



Before appending the observations of Mr. Hill on these fishes, it is 

 necessary to remark that he speaks of the liver of some of these species 

 as being edible. No doubt it may be the case for some kinds, but it is 

 equally certain that the liver is the most poisonous part of others. Sir 

 John Richardson, in his article on Ichthyology in the Encyclopsedia 

 Britannica, 8tli edit., vol. xii, p. 331, gives an instance wherein two 

 sailors were poisoned at the Cape of Good Hope from eating the liver 

 of one fish of the genus Tetrodon. A detailed account of the symptoms 

 was drawn up by a surgeon in the Dutch navy who attended the men 

 until they died, which was in less than half an hour after eating the 

 liver. It should also be remarked that, though Mi-. Hill identifies the 

 fish which poisoned the children as T. hamiltoni, yet this is question- 

 able. But of nineteen known Australian species seven are found in Port 

 Jackson. Some of them reach a length of nearly 2 feet, but such a size 

 is rare. 



The Toad-fish. 



"The toad-fishes do not grow to a large size, at all events the largest 

 we have seen measures something over a foot, and when they do attain 

 anything approaching 6 inches in this Colony they are chiefly found 

 along the coast outside ; there they may be found to the size of 8 or 

 10 inches in length. Those toad-fishes in the harbour are in the young 

 stage, and may be found pushing their way and following the flowing 

 tide to its utmost limits. 



" The toad-fishes of Port Jackson alone already described number not 

 less than six varieties, though some of them differ but slightly in 

 appearance, and the whole may be recognized by one common form. 

 That which caused the death of those children alluded to, together with 

 a cat which had evidently partaken of the vomit, is of the genus 

 Tetrodon hamiltoni. 



