FISHES 215 



concealment or escape, but wield with energy their pcculiai' 

 weapons of" defence. The Skate has a tail armed with sharp 

 spines ; the point of the nose and the base of the tail are bent 

 towards each other, and the tail, when lashed about in all 

 directions, is capable of inllicting severe wounds. The Weaver 

 {Trachiims draco) is furnished with spines on the gill-cover 

 and on the first dorsal tin, which have the power of inflicting 

 severe wounds, and even of imparting a venomous secre- 

 tion. This power, which has been questioned by modern 

 writers, was well known to the ancients, though they attri- 

 buted venomous powers to some species which ai"e certainly 

 harmless.* 



Cruel spines 



Defend some fishes, as the Goby, fond 

 Of sands and rocks, the Scorpion, Swallows fleet, 

 Draf,'ons and Dog-fish, from their prickly mail 

 'Well named the spinous. These m punctures sharp, 

 A fatid pobon from their spines inject." — Oi'i'Lvu. 



Pennant says that he has seen the lesser Weaver direct its 

 blows with a-s much judgment as a fighting cock. 



The Picked or Spined Dog-fish {Acanthias vulgaris) is dis- 

 tinguished from all other Sharks by a single spine placed in 

 front of each of its two dorsal fins. "This fish,'' says Mr. 

 Yarrell, " bends itself into the foi*m of a bow, for the purpose 

 of using its spines, and by a sudden motion causes them to 

 spring asunder in opposite directions ; and so accurately is this 

 intention efTected, that if a finger be placed on its head, it will 

 strike it without piercing its own skin." 



These spines, which are three-sided, and very sharp, are 

 perfectly developed in the young fish prior to birth, and Mr. 

 Ball has made known to us a beautiful provision by which 

 they are prevented at that time from lacerating the mother. 

 Each point is covered with a small knob of cartilage, fastened 

 by straps of the same material, one of which passes down each 

 of the sides of the spine, so as to be easily detached at birth, 

 thus allowing the little animal (hke the goddess of classic 

 fable) to commence life effectively armed. t 



* Dr. G. J. Allman, Annals Nat Hist, vol. vi. p. 161. He had suffered 

 acute pain from a wound inflicted by the spine attached to the gill-cover of 

 the Weaver. 



t Proceedings of the Koyal Irish Academy, 27th April, 1846. Mr. Ball 

 exhibited at the same time two perfectly-formed young, which he had taken 

 from the mother on the 30th of the preceding November. 



