I76 TlMEHRI. 
snakes were able to grasp, with their large specialised 
teeth, the small parts of the fingers, just as they 
would grasp the small animals on which they prey ; and 
the effe6l produced in the small animals would be such 
as no doubt to cause temporary paralysis or uncon- 
sciousness, the better to enable the snake to swallow 
them — just as in the case of so many of the Hytnenop- 
tera and other such forms, the sting which is only pain- 
ful and local in man and other large animals, is sufficient 
to paralyze, if not to kill, the small inse6fcs which they 
secure as food in their nests for their young — and which 
they are thus enabled to manipulate without trouble. 
That the peculiarly painful result was caused by a 
specialised secretion, seems to me to be the only sane 
conclusion in these cases ; and the fa6l of the teeth 
being grooved — in one case at least — tends to confirm 
this. That the glandular structures at the base of, and 
around, these specialised teeth secrete some specially 
acrid fluid or poison which bathes the tooth and becomes 
carried into the wound by the teeth, seems to me to be 
no more strange than that a very similar thing should 
occur in the well-known cases of the various stinging 
rays, where the spines, even in the water, are thus 
rendered highly offensive and defensive organs, 
Our Coast Monsters, — The great sharks and rays of 
our coast are very little known, and their habits but 
little understood ; it is hoped therefore that soon it will 
be possible to devote a special article to their considera- 
tion. Now, it is intended simply to record the occur- 
rence of the larger and more striking forms. Sharks as 
a rule are very much feared, though certain forms are 
