NOTE-BOOK OF A NATUR^VLIST. 227 



serpents, should be quite certain that the skin of the 

 lij^s 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. 



