104 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



ous. 



Fig. ( .n. —Poison cone-shell (Conns textilis), with the animal 



extended. 



interest, for they are the only molluscs whose bite is known to be poison- 

 The teeth of the lingual ribbon are long and hollow, a structure 



which at once recalls that 

 of the poisonous serpents ; 

 and it seems probable, 

 though no exact observa- 

 tions have been made, 

 that these are the means 

 by which the poison is 

 introduced into the vic- 

 tim. According to the 

 Rev. W. Wyatt Gill, the 

 species figured in the cut 

 has been known to cause 

 the death of a man by 

 its bite, while other species have often been accredited with producing 

 severe and painful sores. Mr. Arthur Adams, the naturalist of the voyage 

 of the 'Samarang' to the eastern seas, thus describes the effect produced 

 by til,- bite of Conus aulicus: "Its bite produces a venom ed wound, accom- 

 panied by acute pain, and making a small, deep triangular mark, which 

 is succeeded by a watery vesicle. At the little island of Meyo, one of the 

 Moluccas, n.ar Termite, Sir Edward Belcher was bitten by one of these 

 cones, which suddenly exserted its proboscis as he took it out of the water 

 wiili liis hand; and he compares the sensation he experienced to that 

 produced by burning phosphorus under the skin." Conus marmoreus 

 and Conus iulipa are also known to poison, while the natives of New 

 Britain frequently suffer from the bites inflicted by Conus geogrcqMcus. 



Some of the cones are regarded as rarities by the collectors, and bring 

 to-day high prices. In I860 a large collection of shells was sold at auction 

 in London, and some of the cones brought the following high prices: Co- 

 nns omaicus, sixty dollars ; C cedonulli, ninety and one hundred and ten 

 dollars; C. cereus, nearly ninety dollars;'and C. gloriamaris, two hundred 

 dollars! 



The cones are all predaceous, and live upon other molluscs, worms, and 

 'lie like. Yet, notwithstanding their habits and their poisonous qualities, 

 they are timorous in disposition. They crawl slowly and sluggishly over 

 the coral reefs, and upon suspicion of danger they retreat into the numer- 

 ous cavities in the bottom. The figure shows the conical ringed proboscis, 

 flanked on cither side by the tentacles, at the middle of which may be 

 sen the eyes ; while curling up over the shell is the siphon, by which 

 water is conveyed to the gills. 



