TRANSFORMATIONS. 155 



though," says Dr Giinther, "they lack a special 

 organ secreting poison, or a canal in or on the 

 spine by which the venomous fluid is conducted, 

 the symptoms caused by a wound from the spine 

 of a sting-ray are such as cannot be accounted 

 for merely by the mechanical laceration, the 

 pain being intense, and the subsequent inflamma- 

 tion and swelling of the wounded part terminating 

 not rarely in gangrene. The mucus secreted 

 from the surface of the fish, and inoculated by 

 the jagged spine, evidently possesses venomous 

 properties." The common weaver-fi«h (Trachinus) 

 will be a familiar form to many of my readers, 

 for it is so frequently shaken out of the nets of 

 "long-shore" fishermen at the seaside during 

 the summer months. In this fish the spine of 

 the dorsal fin, and of the pUte covering the gills 

 on either side of the head, are very venomous. 

 Unlike those of the sting-ray just described, the 

 spines of the weaver are deeply grooved, for the 

 passage of a violently poisonous mucus. The 

 genus Synanceia, of the In do-Pacific, is repre- 

 sented by two species, justly feared on account 

 of their poisonous properties. They are as 

 hideous in appearance as they are dangerous in 

 fact. The poison organ is more perfectly de- 

 veloped than in the weavers, each dorsal spine 

 having its terminal half provided with a deep 

 groove on each side, at the lower end of which 

 lies a pear-shaped bag containing a milky poison. 

 This bag is prolonged into a duct lying in the 

 groove of the spine, and open at the point of 

 this. The native fishermen, knowing the danger- 

 ous properties of these fish, give them a wide 



