POISON DAGGER OF WEEVER FISH. 275 



Scotland: ''A lady was bathing in tlie sea near liere, 

 Murray Firtli, and i^laced lier hand upon the sand 

 beneath the water. Instantly she felt her finger 

 shari^ly punctured, and found blood oozing from a httle 

 hole. In a minute the wound became a dark purple 

 colour, the finger and back of the hand swelled up and 

 turned scarlet, and pain of a most agonizing character 

 extended along the arm. The symptoms lasted three 

 days, leaving soreness and pain. This, of course, was 

 the sting of the weever fish." 



I earnestly entreat ladies and children, in fact every 

 one, when bathing in sandy places, to be sure to wear 

 slippers, as the weever fish live in the sand, and, keep- 



GREAT WEEVER. 



ing their sharp poisonous back fins erect, are very likely 

 to wound the foot. . The weevers have also a da^^f^er in 

 the sides of the cheek. I have experimented upon them, 

 and I find they certainly have the power of jerking 

 themselves backwards, so as to inflict wounds with these 

 spines. It is worth while to take out one of these spines 

 and examine it. It will be seen that it is connected 

 with the bone of the head by a joint which gives it 

 great mobility. The spine itself is dagger-shaped, 

 the point as sharp as a very pointed needle, the sides 

 fluted somewhat like a bayonet. I cannot quite make 

 out whether it is or is not perforated hke the tooth of a 

 poisonous snake. The fishermen say that the moment 



