[14] Couch, "British Fishes," 1865, vol. iv. p. 172.
[17] Jerdon, "Madras Journal of Literature and Science," 1849, p. 143.
[18] "Observations on the Past and Present Condition of Onjein," Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vi, p. 820.
[Illustration: FIG. 133.--Mad-tom, _Schilbeodes furiosus_ Jordan and Meek. Showing the poisoned pectoral spine. Family _Siluridæ_. Neuse River.]
=Spines of the Catfishes.=--The catfishes or horned pouts (_Siluridæ_) have a strong spine in the pectoral fin, one or both edges of this being jagged or serrated. This spine fits into a peculiar joint and by means of a slight downward or forward twist can be set immovably. It can then be broken more easily than it can be depressed. A slight turn in the opposite direction releases the joint, a fact known to the fish and readily learned by the boy. The sharp spine inflicts a jagged wound. Pelicans which have swallowed the catfish have been known to die of the wounds inflicted by the fish's spine. When the catfish was first introduced into the Sacramento, according to Mr. Will S. Green, it caused the death of many of the native "Sacramento perch" (_Archoplites interruptus_). This perch (or rather bass) fed on the young catfish, and the latter erecting their pectoral spines in turn caused the death of the perch by tearing the walls of its stomach. In like manner the sharp dorsal and ventral spines of the sticklebacks have been known to cause the death of fishes who swallow them, and even of ducks. In Puget Sound the stickleback is often known as salmon-killer.
Certain small catfishes known as stone-cats and mad-toms (_Noturus_, _Schilbeodes_), found in the rivers of the Southern and Middle Western States, are provided with special organs of offense. At the base of the pectoral spine, which is sometimes very jagged, is a structure supposed by Professor Cope to be a poison gland the nature of which has not yet been fully ascertained. The wounds made by these spines are exceedingly painful like those made by the sting of a wasp. They are, however, apparently not dangerous.
[Illustration: FIG. 134.--Black Nohu, or Poison-fish, _Emmydrichthys vulcanus_ Jordan. A species with stinging spines, showing resemblance to lumps of lava among which it lives. Family _Scorpænidæ_. From Tahiti.]