. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. 66 POISONOUS BITE OF CONUS and the native explained that had he not taken these precautions he would have died. Instances have been re- corded of poisonous wounds being inflicted by the bite of Conus aulicus^ C. textile^ and C. tulipa. According to Mr. J. Macgillivray ^ C. textile at Aneitum (S. Pacific) is called intrag, and the natives say it spits the poison upon them from several inches off! Two cases of bites from C, textile occurred to this gentleman's notice, one of which terminated fatally by gangrene. Sir Ed- ward Belcher, when in command of t
. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. 66 POISONOUS BITE OF CONUS and the native explained that had he not taken these precautions he would have died. Instances have been re- corded of poisonous wounds being inflicted by the bite of Conus aulicus^ C. textile^ and C. tulipa. According to Mr. J. Macgillivray ^ C. textile at Aneitum (S. Pacific) is called intrag, and the natives say it spits the poison upon them from several inches off! Two cases of bites from C, textile occurred to this gentleman's notice, one of which terminated fatally by gangrene. Sir Ed- ward Belcher, when in command of the Samarang^ was bitten ^ by a Conus aulicus at a little island off Ternate in the Moluccas. As he took the creature out of the water, it suddenly exserted its proboscis and inflicted a wound, causing a sensa- tion similar to that produced by the burning of phosphorus under the skin. The wound was Fig. 27.—A tooth a small, deep, triangular mark, succeeded by a ^oi'conust^pe- watcry vesicle. The natives of New Guinea have riaiis L., X 50, a wholcsome dread of the bite of Cones. Mr. C. Sdpofonduct Hedley relates ^ that while collecting on a coral reef he once rolled over a boulder and exposed a living C. textile. Before he could pick it up, one of the natives hastily snatched it away, and explained, with vivid gesticula- tions, its hurtful qualities. On no account would he permit Mr. Hedley to touch it, but insisted on himself placing it in the bottle of Mimicry and Protective Coloration. Cases of Mimicry, or protective resemblance, when a species otherwise defenceless adopts the outward appearance of a better protected species, are rare among the Mollusca. Karl Semper^ mentions an interesting case of the mimicry of Helicarion tigri- nus by Xesta Ciimingii, in the Philippines. It appears that all 1 Zoologist, xviii. (1860) p. 7136. 2 A. Adams, Samarang, vol. ii. Zoology, p. 357. 3 In Thomson's British New Guinea, p. 283. * Animal Life, p. 395. It should be mentioned t
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