of the Bite of the Boomslang. 273 



collection of live snakes to their new apartments, and 

 Mr. Williams was carrying a large variegated Boomslang 

 when it suddenly buried its teeth in the muscles o£ his bare 

 forearm, just below the elbow-joint. It gripped with great 

 power and held on firmly. We disengaged its jaws, and I 

 suggested treating the wound, but he would not hear of such 

 a tiling, and believing, as I did at the time, that it was a non- 

 poisonous snake I did not insist. The wound smarted a 

 little and he went on working. Within an hour a throbbing 

 headache had manifested itself, accompanied by oozing of 

 blood from the mucous membranes of the mouth, followed by 

 vomiting. 



Meanwhile the wound was slowly oozing blood, and the 

 muscles in the vicinity were somewhat swollen. He was 

 then taken to Dr. Bruce, who declared him to be suffering 

 unmistakably from the effects of virulent poison which was 

 seriously aflfecting the blood and mucous membranes. During 

 the night Williams''s condition gradually and progressively 

 became more alarming, and he was taken to the Provincial 

 Hospital the following day in a state of utter collapse. He 

 steadily grew worse, and blood oozed continuously from all 

 the mucous surfaces, viz. the mouth, nose, stomach, bladder, 

 and bowels. Then the blood began to ooze into the tissues 

 and caused large blackish-purple swollen patches under the 

 skin. One eye and its surrounding tissues, both forearms for 

 two-thirds their length, a portion of the abdomen, hip, and 

 thigh, were all charged with extravasated blood, presenting 

 a dreadful sight. 



The venom of Dlspholidus typus evidently contains a 

 poison which acts upon the endothelial cells lining the 

 capillaries. This action is particularly characteristic of the 

 poison of the Crotalinte and is most marked after poisoning 

 by the South American vipers of the genus Lachesis. 



Flexner has given the name " hsemorrhagins " to the con- 

 stituents of poisons possessing this action and regards them 

 as special cytolysins for endothelial cells. 



Williams rapidly grew worse after the second day in 

 hospital, severe abdominal pains setting in and inability to 

 retain even water in the stom,;icli. From this time he rapidly 

 sank, and on the evening of the third day after being bitten 

 I went to the hospital, accompanied by Mr. William 

 Armstrong, J. P., who took what we believed to be his 

 dying deposition, the doctor declaring him to be in an 

 extremely critical condition, which might result in death 

 before the morning. He lingered on in this state, bordering 

 between life and death, till about the sixth day, when a slow 



