A MAN BITTEN. 141 
poison-glands are comparatively small—a fifth the size of those 
of a Puff Adder. That they secret a venom, potent and virulent, 
in proportion to their size, does not admit of a doubt. Sir Andrew 
Smith claims that the fangs are 
simply used for the retention of 
the prey, such as birds, which 
would otherwise escape. This is 
partly, but not wholly so. When 
a Boomslang seizes a live bird, it 
grips with great tenacity. The 
bird struggles frantically for a 
minute or two, and is then over- 
come by the potent action of the 
venom injected through the snake’s 
grooved fangs. It then leisurely 
proceeds to swallow the bird, 
feathers and all. Boomslangs 
never constrict their prey. 
A Man BITTEN. 
During November, 1907, we 
had occasion to transfer our col- 
lection of live snakes to their new 
apartments, and Mr. Williams was 
carrying a large variegated Boom- 
slang when it suddenly buried its 
teeth in the muscles of his bared 
forearm, just below the elbow- 
joint. It gripped with great 
power, and held on firmly. We 
disengaged its jaws, and I sug- 
gested treating the wound, but 
he would not hear of such a 
thing, and believing, as I did at 
the time, that it was practically 
a non-poisonous snake, I did not insist. 
Fic. 60.—This is Mr. James Williams, 
who was bitten by a Boomslang, referred 
to in the text. The parts, coloured 
black, were the portions of his body 
where the blood flowed out through the 
walls of the*blood vessels, and accumu- 
lated in the tissues, causing dark purple 
patches, which were very much swollen 
and inflamed. The right eye and the 
surrounding tissues were immensely 
swollen, disfiguring Williams’ face 
almost beyond recognition. In fact, the 
man presented a terrible and never-to- 
be-forgotten sight. Blood oozed from 
his mouth and nose. Hemorrhage 
also took place in his stomach and 
bowels. His recovery was little short 
of miraculous. It was evidently due 
to his vigorous constitution, the result 
of very abstemious habits. 
The wound smarted 
a little, and he went on working. Within an hour a throb- 
bing headache had manifested itself, accompanied by oozing of 
