494 



MISS E. A. ORMEROD ON THE 



whilst the fingers were still covered with the exuded matter be- 

 came temporarily acutely painful. 



On scraping the coagulated exudation away after the death of 

 the Triton, a further supply of the acrid fluid emitted from the 

 pores may be obtained in a dilute state by placing the animal in 

 distilled water and gently pressing the tuberculated parts of the 

 skin with the finger. 



This infusion has a poppy-like smell and peculiar feel, rather 

 than taste, in the mouth, at first acrid, numbing to the tongue, 

 and causing a sensible degree of inflammation to the tender surfaces 

 exposed to it, such as the inside of the lips and the upper part of 

 the throat, the inflammatory effects lasting in my own case for 

 many hours, accompanied (after working in the peculiar scent for 

 about an hour) by a sense of dizziness and stupor. The exuded 

 slimy matter appeared to have little effect when repeatedly placed 

 in the mouth of one of the Tritons ; but a specimen of Acilius, on 

 being placed in water in which some Newts had been soaked for 

 a night, gradually sickened, the limbs waving about when stirred 

 as if powerless, and died in a few hours. 



In a more dilute infusion the effects on other water-beetles of 

 the same kind appeared variable and uncertain. 



An analysis, made at my request, of the slimy exudation from 

 the cutaneous pores of the Tritons showed its principal elements 

 to be similar in composition to the serum of ordinary blood, and 

 apparently separable from the blood under irritation at the will of 

 the animal. 



The enormous number of reptiles which would be required to 

 ascertain the nature of the acrid principle contained in the exuda- 

 tion, throws much difficulty on the elucidation of this particular 

 point ; but the analyses, especially to discover the presence of any 

 substance resembling the alkaloids of opium or aconite, showed 

 matter having no alkaloidal character — the acrid and pungent 

 constituent appearing neither acid nor alkaline, but neutral, and 

 also highly volatile. In these characteristics the exudation from 

 the tubercular skin of the Triton corresponds almost exactly with 

 that from the follicles of the skin of the common Toad, as given 

 by Dr. John Davy in his observations published in the Phil. 

 Trans., where the exudation of the Toad is described as a thick 

 yellowish fluid, very acrid, acting on the tongue like extract of 

 aconite, but neither acid nor alkaline. 



The effect of the poison when discharged immediately from the 



