364 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
and Boomslang is equal to two or three drops of Puff Adder 
venom. Fayrer, Brunton and several others claim that Cobra 
venom is as poisonous in its action when swallowed as when 
injected under the skin. 
I have experimented upon a variety of animals, including 
Chacma Baboons, by introducing the venoms of the various 
South African snakes into their food. In no case were they 
affected in the slightest degree. The venoms of all the typically 
poisonous snakes were used. The Cape Cobra and the Puff 
Adder, being typical representatives of the Colubrine and Viperine 
families of snakes, their venoms were selected chiefly for these 
experiments. Thirty drops of freshly-drawn Cobra venom 
introduced into about an ounce of food was given on several 
occasions without any poisonous symptoms supervening. 
If venom taken into the stomachs of such highly evolved 
animals as Baboons produces no poisonous effects, it is fairly 
safe to assume that it would act similarly in the healthy human 
organism. In fact, this has been sufficiently demonstrated by 
the fact that the Bushmen of the past ate the venom-poisoned 
flesh of animals. 
An Australian scientist, in a recent article on the Snakes of 
Australia, declares positively that the venom of the Colubrine 
(Cobra) family of snakes is rendered harmless by the gastric 
juices when swallowed, but that Viperine (Adder) venoms, on 
the contrary, are not so destroyed. Gadow states that, with the 
exception of Cobra (Colubrine) venom, all venoms are not ab- 
sorbed by the mouth or alimentary canal, unless there be 
abrasions. 
On the contrary, Drs. C. J. Martin, G. Lamb, and Weir 
Mitchell, all of whom are recognized authorities on snake venom, 
declare that all venoms are destroyed by the gastric and pan- 
creatic juices. Some are acted upon by the gastric juices ; 
others, which these juices have no power to neutralize, are 
rendered harmless by the pancreatic fluids. 
VENOM Is DIGESTED. 
Snake venom when swallowed is completely digested by the 
digestive juices. It has been frequently demonstrated that the 
secretion of the Pancreas, known as the pancreatic juice, which 
