2/2 OPISTHOGLVPHOUS SNAKES. 



The following is an account of the number of animals bitten 

 in each case, and the results of such bites : — 



Animals bitten by — 



i. Dispholidus typus, the boomslang. 



(a) One baboon which recovered from one bite, after exhi 

 biting symptoms of serious illness, but which died as a result of a 

 second bite, inflicted after an interval of twenty -five days. 



(b) Two horses. One horse died, but the other showed 

 only some degree of dullness, which rapidly passed off. In the 

 latter case the snake used was exceptionally fierce and aggressive, 

 and was found to have broken off the fangs on one side, as a 

 result of biting fiercely at the stick employed in its capture. 



(c) One mule, which died. 



(d) Five sheep, of which three died. 



One of the other two sheep was bitten by the snake with the 

 broken fangs, alluded to above, and no symptoms were shown. 



The other sheep which failed to show the usual symptoms, 

 was bitten by a snake immediately after the latter had inflicted 

 what proved to be a fatal bite on another sheep. 



Thus in ten experiments there were six deaths, one recovery, 

 and three cases in which, probably for the reasons above-men- 

 tioned, the snake failed to introduce any significant amount of 

 venom into the subject of the experiment. 



With regard to the clinical symptoms produced, the general 

 nature of the lesions, and of the symptoms arising therefrom, was 

 the same in all cases, but there was, of course, considerable 

 variation in minor points. 



In order to convey an accurate idea of the chief clinical 

 features observed, I propose here to quote at some length from 

 my records of two cases. 



i. A young female adult baboon. 



This baboon was bitten on the right shoulder by a female 

 boomslang at midday, 29th December, 191 1; the snake bit well, 

 and retained its hold for nearly two minutes. 



During the operation the baboon showed signs of great fear, 

 uttering shrill cries and making frenzied efforts to escape. 



For five minutes, after the bite, the baboon was restless and 

 frightened, but after a short time it became quieter, and it was 

 soon eating, drinking, and playing happily. 



Blood was slowly oozing from the punctures made by the 

 fangs, and the baboon occasionally felt the wound with the left 

 hand, then smelling and tasting the finger tips with some appear- 

 ance of anxiety, which was, however, verv transitorv. 



At 5 p.m. there was a noticeable hard, but not painful, 

 swelling at the site of the bite, and at 10 p.m. this swelling was 

 rather larger. Blood was still oozing from the punctures, but the 

 general health was, apparently, unimpaired. 



The following morning the swelling was found to have 

 increased in size, and to have extended over the shoulder and 

 down the arm as far as the elbow. 



