Mique -

30 seconds? That couldn't have been a very potent cone venom!  Certainly not
as potent as that of the deadly South Sea Conus purpurascens!  Here is the
account of the gun Wayne referred to, from the script of Jurassic Park III .
. .

        "That a Lindstradt?" she asked. "Yup. Lindstradt air rifle. Most
expensive gun in the world. Fires a subsonic impact-delivery dart. I'm
loading it with the enhanced venom of Conus purpurascens - South Sea cone
shell. It's the most powerful neurotoxin in the world. Acts within a
two-thousandth of a second, which is faster than the nerve-conduction
velocity. So, the animal's down before it even feels the prick of the dart,"
Adams said quickly and informatively.

Thank goodness we have Hollywood to inform us of such natural wonders! Here
is another bit of malacological lore, from Chapter 6 of Crystal Watson's
Headhunter . . .

"Don't tell me that this snail is also poisonous," commented the inspector,
as he walked up behind the two of them. "It is, indeed," answered Dr. Crane
with a grim smile. "It has tiny little teeth that it shoots through its
proboscis like darts from a blowgun. They're quite venomous."

Paul M.