318 THE - SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA: 
a native medicine man. On examination, the stuff appeared 
to be exactly the same as that which had been supplied to me 
by the Hon. F. W. Reitz, for my first series of experiments. 
It is needless to detail the experiments. It is sufficient to 
say, although the Zibiba was applied as directed, both internally 
and to the incised wound, it did not delay a fatal issue. In no 
case did it even prolong life. 
Another communication was received from a prominent 
farmer in the Transvaal. He stated that all the farmers in his 
district carried a “‘ Snake bite cure’ in a small bag sewn to their 
belt or braces. The women carried it stitched to a garter. 
These people believe the substance to be a certain cure for snake 
bite, and in consequence display absolute fearlessness when in 
the presence of snakes. He was given a small bag of this cure 
and told to carry it about with him always, because it was a 
certain cure, provided the wound was scarified, and the powder 
rubbed well in, and a small quantity swallowed. He says it is 
also believed that if the skin is cut in several places once yearly, 
and the powder rubbed in, it will give absolute immunity for 
at least a year. My correspondent is prepared to contest this 
cure against any other. A sample of this wonderful powder 
was sent tome. It turned out to be Zibiba. Again I conducted 
a series of experiments, with the same results as before. I carried 
out the instructions carefully, viz. putting a little of the Zibiba 
at the back of the tongue, scarifying the site of the bite, and 
rubbing some of the powder well in. In other cases I scarified 
the flesh in three or four places and rubbed the powder into the 
cuts. Rubbing some on a piece of meat, I gave it to a Jackal. 
After a lapse of fifteen minutes, to give the Zibiba every chance 
of being absorbed into the blood, the Jackal was bitten on the 
thigh by a Cape Cobra. The site of the punctures was scarified 
and smothered with the stuff. The Jackal died in less than an 
hour. 
FURTHER PROOFS. 
Another gentleman from the Transvaal wrote suggesting that 
the first sample of Zibiba I experimented with, might not have 
been the genuine article. He wrote as follows: “I had a fair 
quantity of Zibiba some time back which came from the heart 
