320 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
THE TESTS. 
A small quantity of this Zibiba was procured and forwarded 
to me. 
A large domestic tom-cat was chosen for the first experiment, 
for the reason that cats resist the action of snake venom much 
more successfully than any other animal of the same size with 
which experiments have been made. A large pinch of the powder 
was dropped into the cat’s open mouth, which fell into the throat 
and was swallowed. A Puff Adder was then allowed to inflict 
one full bite on the upper part of the cat’s back leg. The spot 
was instantly scarified, three cuts being made. The wounds 
were rubbed thoroughly with Zibiba. After an interval, more 
was applied. Later, the wound was rubbed with a third dose. 
The cat died in one hour twenty-seven minutes after. 
Some of this Zibiba was mixed with the venom of a Puff Adder 
and rubbed into a cut in the leg of a fowl. The fowl died in half 
an hour. Zibiba was mixed with two drops of Puff Adder venom 
and some water and allowed to stand a whole day. The mixture 
was rubbed into a cut in a fowl’s leg. The fowl died. Other 
experiments followed, with similar results. 
A full-grown Vervet or Blue Ape, similar to the one used in 
the original experiment with Zibiba, was obtained. I inserted 
a fair quantity of the Zibiba powder supplied by Mr. Reitz, and 
some of that which was supposed to have cured the man and the 
dog when bitten by Puff Adders, into a piece of banana. The 
monkey ate the banana. Allowing an interval of fifteen minutes, 
I caused a Puff Adder to bite the monkey in the lower part of 
the back leg. The site of the punctures was instantly scarified 
thoroughly, and the wounds smothered with a mixture of the 
two samples of Zibiba. The monkey, within five minutes of the 
bite, showed signs of poisoning. The symptoms steadily deve- 
loped, until death took place twenty minutes after the infliction 
of the bite. 
The Puff Adder was a fresh one which I had captured a week 
previously. The bite it inflicted was a complete one. It was— 
held by the neck and allowed to retain its hold two seconds. 
Samples of Zibiba from the Transvaal, Swaziland, and Natal 
were mixed together. A teaspoonful of water and six drops of 
