352 SNAKES. 



may doubt. T)r. Andrew Smith tells us that this belief 

 prevails among the natives of South Africa. 



A bright object always attracts snakes, and some victim- 

 ized traveller's eyes may have been remarkably brilliant, and 

 in consequence smarted under the accident. Be that as it 

 may, the poison is sometimes so abundant that you may see 

 it flow from the mouth over the prey. The glands being 

 excited, just as are the salivary glands of mammals, the 

 mouth 'waters' with poison. In the Hamadryad I have 

 seen it flow, or more correctly * dribble,' down over the 

 snake it was eating. This noxious secretion assists digestion 

 in the same way that the ordinary saliva in the human 

 mouth does. Says Dr. Carpenter, ' The saliva prepares food 

 for the business of the stomach ; and if the ordinary 

 operations of mastication and insalivation be neglected, the 

 stomach has to do the whole work of preparation as well as 

 its own especial duty of the digestion.' That the digestive 

 powers of snakes are strong, we know from the fact that 

 nearly all animal substances are converted to nutriment in 

 the stomach of a healthy snake. The abundant saliva 

 must be a powerful agent in the process, because mastication 

 takes no share in the work. This has become more than 

 mere conjecture, since recent experiments have shown that 

 snake venom possesses strong peptic qualities ; that, like 

 pancreatic juice, it will even dissolve raw meat and albu- 

 minous substances. Recent experiments have also shown 

 that the salivary gland is the laboratory in which the poison 

 of venomous serpents is elaborated ; that ordinary saliva is 

 there intensified, concentrated, and endowed with its toxic 

 properties. 



