494 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
We might reasonably infer from this that New Zealand was 
isolated prior to the evolution of snakes from lizards or lizard-like 
creatures. It is reasonable to assume, too, that if New Zealand 
had been joined to Australia or any other snake-infested territory 
we should find snakes still living there. 
EF; 
POTENCY OF MAMBA VENOM. 
Mr. Hector McKenzie-Shaw, Government Land Surveyor, 
related to me the details of the sad death of the well-known 
young farmer referred to in the chapter on the Mamba. He 
was present when the deceased was bitten by the Mamba, and 
remained with him till his death. His account is as follows : 
“ We had been out hunting, and on returning to the wagon, 
which was about a hundred yards distant, my friend trod upon 
a large Black Mamba which instantly bit him on the front 
part of the left foot, just above the top of the boot. Without 
an instant’s delay we tied ligatures above and below the 
punctures, scarified the part and rubbed the wounds full of 
permanganate of potash crystals. I then put on another 
ligature above the knee, and yet another at the top of the thigh, 
tightening them with a stick and screwing it round. Arriving 
at the wagon, I sucked the wound thoroughly and gave him half 
an ordinary tumbler of brandy, and placing him on a mattress, 
covered him up with blankets and kindled a large fire at his side 
to keep him warm. At intervals we gave him doses of brandy. 
In all, he drank about half a bottle of it. The snake inflicted 
the bite about three o’clock in the afternoon. For the first hour 
my friend was somewhat excited, and talked and laughed with 
us. Then he calmed down, and was perfectly normal apparently, 
and complained of nothing except diarrhcea and an unpleasant 
twitching of the muscles of the mouth and tongue. Hour after 
hour went by, and we chatted away beside the cheerful fire, 
planning out many things for the future, never dreaming for one 
moment that this was the last day for my friend, who seemed 
none the worse for the bite. A little before 9 p.m. I noticed 
he was less talkative, and that his eyelids were getting puffy. 
From this time onward he seemed to be rather tired. Then, 
