496 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
at ten p.m. without any warning he clutched his throat desperately 
and sprang with a bound to his feet, threw his arms out, gripped 
his throat again, and with a desperate effort tried to speak to 
me, but as he was uttering my name his breath failed and he 
collapsed upon the ground, struggled, and was dead in five 
minutes. All this came upon us with such startling suddenness 
that we were appalled. In laying him out I noticed that the 
entire left side of his body was stiff and rigid, while the right 
side was quite relaxed. He evidently had had a paralytic 
stroke just before death. On removing the clothes from the 
body I noticed an irregular line of dark purple of varying 
diameter up to two inches, running from the site of the bite up 
the left side, over the left shoulder, up behind the ear to the base 
of the skull. There was no swelling or discoloration other than 
this livid band anywhere about the body, nor was there any 
hemorrhage from the mucous surfaces.. Diarrhoea was more or 
less pronounced from the time he was bitten till his death. I 
mentioned this livid line running from the wound up to the 
skull to some medical men, but they seemed to be rather sceptical 
about it, but I assure you it is exactly as I have stated to you. 
“‘My friend was exceptionally strong and muscular. In fact, 
he was remarkable for his physical strength. He was within 
two or three days of being twenty-one years of age. He was 
one of the most fearless and daring of men, but strange to say 
he had an absolute horror and dread of snakes. About a week 
before his death he stumbled over a Puff Adder and declared that 
if he should have another such experience it would be his last, 
he would clear out of the country, for he could not stand the 
sight of snakes. Poor fellow, his next experience was indeed his 
last.” 
It will be noticed from the above narrative that the per- 
manganate of potash and the ligatures were applied almost 
instantly after the infliction of the bite. Mr. McKenzie-Shaw 
says not more than a minute or two could have passed before 
both operations were completed. The wounds were thoroughly 
incised, and permanganate rubbed in freely. We must therefore 
conclude that sufficient venom reached the general circulation 
within a minute of the infliction of the bite to cause death. It 
will thus be seen how potent is the venom of the Mamba. 
The symptoms in this case indicate that the venom did not 
