NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 227 



serpents, should be quite certain that the skin of the 

 lips and fauces is unbroken, and that there is no wound 

 or abrasion about the gums or tongue, otherwise fatal 

 consequences might ensue. But if all be right, the im- 

 munity with which the venom of serpents may be taken 

 into the stomach ceases to be surprising, when we remem- 

 ber that the deadly wourali poison is given in the country 

 which produces it as a tonic with success, and that milk, 

 so nutritious when taken as food, if it be injected into 

 the veins is mortal. 



September, 1850. 



