488 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
C3 
MORE ABOUT RINGHALS—A CRAFTY DODGE. 
The cunning Ringhals Kapell not only sends out a shower 
of venom at its enemy to blind him, and thus effect its escape 
while he is suffering agonies of pain and is staggering about 
in a dazed and_ blinded 
condition, but it actually 
simulates death. When 
the  Ringhals Kapell 
realizes that escape is 
impossible, it frequently 
pretends to be dead. Its 
body becomes limp, it 
turns partly or wholly 
over on its back, its jaws 
gape, and to all intents 
and purposes it is dead. 
You may turn it over and 
over with a stick, but not 
a sign of life will it show. 
It will he in the position 
in which it is thrown. 
However, this deadly ser- 
pent is wide awake all the 
time. Through its trans- 
Fic. Cc. Head of a Spotted or Rhombic Schaap- parent eye scales, its un- 
steker (T. rhombeatus) showing the fangs. ; : 5 
These are situated halfway back in the upper winking eyes register every 
jaw under the eyes. (Natural size.) 
move of the enemy, and 
should he be unwise enough to approach within striking dis- 
tance, this apparently dead snake becomes electrified. With a 
fierce forward thrust, it drives its fangs home with deadly 
effect. Should the Ringhals Kapell succeed in delivering a full 
bite, it is capable of injecting eight to ten drops of venom into 
its victim. A single drop is a fatal dose for a man. 
Once I was anxious to get a good photograph of a specially 
fine Ringhals which we had at the Port Elizabeth Museum, so, 
thrusting it into a box, we carried it out to the neighbouring 
veld. Casting it upon the ground, we got our apparatus ready 
