418 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA 
This was done at Ir a.m. Five hours later, one fowl began 
to sicken, and its injected wing hung rather loosely. The other 
fowl seemed quite sound. The following morning both fowls 
seemed sickly weak. I examined them and found that the 
injected thighs and wings were swollen to nearly twice their 
normal size, and considerable hemorrhage in those parts had 
taken place. 
For three days the fowls remained in about the same con- 
dition, when one recovered its normal cheerfulness and seemed 
well. I examined it and found that the swellings had sub- 
sided, and the vicinity of the injections were not so purplish as 
before. Three days later the parts were greenish-yellow in 
appearance, indicating that the dead blood under the skin and 
in the muscles was being rapidly re-absorbed. 
The other fowl did not fare so well. Evidently it had re- 
ceived a slightly larger dose of venom than the other fowl, or 
else it was more susceptible to the poison. Both its limbs 
became paralyzed, owing mainly to extensive hemorrhage under 
the skin of the thighs. 
On the sixth day after the injection, it began to recover 
the use of its legs. I then killed it and made a careful 
examination. I found that the skin on both thighs was dead 
and came away when I pulled it, revealing a mass of coffee- 
coloured matter, practically dry, underneath. This was the 
residue of the blood which had oozed out of the blood-vessels. 
The flesh under this, for nearly a quarter of an inch deep, was 
dark brown, and in a jelly-like condition. Beneath this layer 
the flesh was perfectly sound. The healing processes were well 
proceeding, and the fowl] would have, no doubt, made a complete 
recovery. On examination, the flesh of the breast was stained 
with blood in small patches, owing to slight hemorrhage through 
the capillary blood-vessels of those parts. 
DEDUCTIONS. 
Similar experiments were repeated, with more or less the same 
results. It is obvious that three drops of Puff Adder venom 
is a fatal dose for any fowl. In fact, one drop is sufficient if 
injected into the muscles. From the results of these experiments, 
