DR. EVANS ON THE POISONED SPINES OF THE WEEVER FISH. 355 
by the inhabitants of this villa for food. But as Grimston 
is on the chalk it is impossible to say that this is an absolute 
fact. This snail may have been an inhabitant of many dis- 
tricts in England where it is now unknown, and Norfolk may 
have been one of these localities. Those who have studied 
the land mollusca of England, must have often remarked 
the fact, that districts where certain snails must have been 
fairly common, now know them no more, and the absence of 
H. pomatia from Norfolk may be a case in point. There is 
one fact in favour of the late introduction of H. pomatia 
into England, and that is the shells of //. pomatia are never 
found in ancient shell marls, although the shells of many 
other species now living in the south of Europe in districts 
where II. pomatia is found occur. 
> 
VI. 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE POISONED SPINES OF THE 
WEEVER FISH, TRAC H IN US DRACO. 
By H. Muir Evans, M.D. Lond. 
Read 27 th November. iqo6. 
The painful wounds inflicted by certain fish which are com- 
monly caught by fishermen around our coasts are well known 
to all who are in any way brought in contact with the men 
who supply our markets with fish. However, those who 
most frequently suffer from the pricks from spinous fishes 
are trawlers, because the Weever is less frequently found in 
the nets of Herring or Mackerel fishermen. Amateurs are 
not infrequently stung through ignorance of the dangerous 
nature of these fish. 
