The genus _Cottus_, which also belongs to the family TRIGLIDÆ, includes some forty venomous species found in the seas of the northern hemisphere, in Europe, Asia, and America. In France the species of _Cottus_ are generally called _chabots_ (bullheads or miller’s thumbs), _chaboisseaux_ (sea-scorpions), or _caramassons_. They are abundant on the coast of Normandy, and some of them (river bullheads) live in fresh water; they do not exceed 25 cm. in length. They have a liking for holes in rocks, and fishermen are afraid of being stung by them (fig. 102). Their poison-apparatus resembles that of the Weevers, but is less developed. It is situated in the culs-de-sac formed by the opercular spines. The culs-de-sac are lined with cells which produce a toxic secretion only during the spawning season, from November to the end of January. This fact explains how it is that the species of _Cottus_ are declared by certain fishermen to be very venomous, while others say that they are absolutely harmless. The genera _Scorpæna_, _Pterois_ and _Pelor_ also belong to the same group. [Illustration: FIG. 103.--_Scorpæna grandicornis_ (Caribbean Sea). (After Savtschenko.)] In _Scorpæna_ the body is clothed with scales, and the head is large, slightly compressed, armed with spines, and has a bare pit behind; the single dorsal fin is provided with eleven spiny rays, and there are seven branchiostegal rays. _Scorpæna grandicornis_ (fig. 103), found in the Caribbean Sea, is from 30 to 50 cm. in length, and has the back red and the eyes and belly yellow; _Scorpæna diabolus_ (fig. 104), which occurs in the Indian Ocean and Tropical Pacific, is red and brown, obliquely striped with white and brown; a third species, _Scorpæna porcus_ (_Scorpène truie_), of smaller size, is met with in the Mediterranean. The venom of the latter has been studied by A. Briot,[143] who sectioned the dorsal and opercular spines, and macerated them either in physiological saline solution, or in glycerine; he then tested the toxicity of these macerations on certain animals--frogs, rabbits, and rats. [Illustration: FIG. 104.--_Scorpæna diabolus_ (Indian and Pacific Oceans). (After Savtschenko.)] The frogs alone exhibited, as the result of subcutaneous injection into a limb, slight transient paralysis. No effect was found to be produced by the venom when injected intravenously into the rabbit, or subcutaneously into the rat.