Fishes — Mollusks. 7819 



The Poison of the Toad. — The most deadly poisoQ known to be used by ibe slaves 

 in Brazil is that of tbe toad. The skin of tbis repiile contains glands which secrete 

 in abundance a milky glutinous fluid when the toad is put lo pain or irritated. This 

 is scraped ofiF and dried. It produces incurable obstruction and enlargement of the 

 liver, and a speedy death. Some beat the toad with rods to make it secrete tbe venom, 

 others place the animal in an earthen vessel over a slow fire. — R. de Gamblelon Daunt, 

 in ' Dublin Medical Press,' September 25. 



Occurrence of the Sword-fish on the Norfolk Coast. — On the 30th of October a 

 sword-fish was obtained at Mundsley, in Norfolk, The (ish, which is said to have 

 been seen occasionally near the same locality for some days previously, was on this 

 occasion observed in some shallow water, and, being in fact partially stranded, was 

 captured by a noose being passed over its tail, after which it was drawn on shore. The 

 length of this specimen, from the tip of the sword to the centre of the tail, was nine 

 feet five inches, the sword alone being three feet in length. The stomach of the fish 

 was empty. Its flesh, when dressed, was white and palatable, and not unlike that of 

 the sturgeon. — J. H. Gurney ; Cation Hall, Norwich, November 4, 186). 



Mode in which Pholas perforates solid Substances. — During a walk on the roclis, 

 between tideways, at Brighton, a few days back, my attention was drawn to a quiet 

 shallow pool, the sandy bottom of which was discoloured by several white patches, 

 each about the size of a shilling. On examination these patches appeared to be heaps 

 of powdered chalk (the rocks are upper chalk), surrounding the mouths of boles of 

 Pholades. That they were ejected by Pholades, and were no doubt the products of 

 their work in excavating the rock, was shown almost immediately by a cloud of the 

 white dust being discharged from one of the Pholades and settling down on the heap 

 around it. Thinking iljust possible that this observation may be deemed worthy of 

 record, as pointing to the mechanical action of the Pholades' mode of excavation, I 

 take the liberty of forwarding it to the ' Zoologist.' On a subsequent day I watched 

 a Pholas in a similar pool, to ascertain the rate at which it works. Several in the pool 

 were excavated, though the proportion of workers was not large compared with the 

 whole number of Pholades in the pool. My attention was entirely directed to one 

 specimen separated from the rest. Although the tide had receded from the pool for 

 some time, the animal appeared to have thrown out but one discharge of chalk, or of 

 the while powder, which I assume to be chalk-dust. After watching it for about a 

 quarter of an hour, there was a discharge chiefly of chalk. In six minutes more there 

 was another with scarcely any chalk, and due apparently lo the animal's siphons being 

 irritated by some extraneous substance. In the course of the next minute there were 

 perhaps two or three discharges of water and a little sand, but no chalk. For the next 

 three-quarters of an hour there was no further discharge of chalk, although I could 

 not unfrequenlly see the siphons moving from side to side within the hole. This ani- 

 mal appears to have been working very slowly. — R. Hudson ; Rowington, near 

 Waru'ick. 



Carnivorous Taste of Li max maximus. — Our dairy window is overhung by ivy, in 



