398 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
The serum should be kept in a cool dark place—the cooler 
and darker the better. It should be examined every now and 
again, and if the fluid be observed to be getting increasingly 
milky or opaque in appearance, it is a certain sign that it is 
going bad. It must then be thrown away as it is useless, and 
a fresh supply obtained. If kept cool and in a dark place, it 
ought to keep good for several years. I have had a bottle for 
five years, and it is still in good condition. 
When kept for some time and not moved, a slight flaky 
sediment forms at the bottom of the bottle. This is not a sign 
of deterioration. The sediment will readily re-dissolve if the 
bottle be shaken. If the cork be withdrawn or tampered with 
in any way the content of the bottle must be thrown away as 
it will not keep if air gets to it, for it contains no chemical 
preservatives. 
The anti-venene is sterilized and, provided no bacteria gain 
entry, there is no reason why it should not keep indefinitely. 
But, although it may not actually go bad, there is every reason to 
believe it deteriorates in strength the longer it is kept, as is the 
case with the anti-toxin serums in use in the treatment of various 
diseases. The fresher the anti-venene is the better, therefore 
it is advisable to obtain a fresh supply every eighteen months 
or two years. If the previous supply should still appear to be 
souud, then do not throw it away. Keep it also for use, as you 
cannot have too much of it. You may need three or four doses 
at anytime. A valuable human life, or stock costing large sums 
of money, may be saved by a liberal injection of the anti- 
venene, even if bitten fully by the deadliest South African 
serpent. 
Valuable stock, and a considerable number of human lives 
are annually lost in South Africa, from snake bite. It is there- 
fore a necessity to have some means at hand by which this 
mortality may be checked. Hardly a farmer in the country 
has not had serious losses in stock from the bites of venomous 
snakes. 
The universal faith in one or more of the many popular, 
so-called cures, prevents reliable measures being taken to combat 
the effects of snake venom. Elsewhere in this volume the 
results of experiments with most of those remedies have been 
given. He who pins his faith.to any of them is unwise. His 
