<f the Bite oj the Doomslang. 277 



llie venom is absorbed by tlie material and tlie fangs barely 

 scratch the flesh. Secondly, the fangs are set halfway back 

 in the upper jaw, and are three in number on each side, 

 exactly under tlie eyes, and naturally unless the Booraslang's 

 grip be full and complete these fangs do not penetrate the 

 flesh. During my experiments I observed that the Boom- 

 slang in every case made as good a grip as possible on the 

 animal, then almost instantly, with a heaving, forward 

 movement and disengagement of the teeth of the upper jaw 

 from the victim's flesh, it would take a fresh and more secure 

 hold, the upper jaws in which the fangs are set being capable 

 of being pushed downwards, exposing the fangs and forcing 

 their points forward : the jaw then closes with a snap and 

 the snake worries the flesh, with the evident intention of 

 forcing the venom into the punctures, as well as enlarging 

 them for the freer ingress of the poison. 



Sir Andrew Smith, tlie great naturali&it and autlior, says 

 in his ' Zoology of South Africa •*: "As this snake, in our 

 opinion, is not provided with a poisonous fluid to instil into 

 the wounds wiiich the fangs may inflict, they must con- 

 sequently be intended for a purpose different to tiiose which 

 exist in poisonous reptiles. We have not been able to dis- 

 cover any glands manifestly organised for the secretion of 

 poison.'^ 



I was by no means inclined to accept this as final, and 

 carefully dissected the heads of several Boomslangs, and in 

 every case I discovered a small gland on each side of the 

 head, lying immediately behind and above the grooved fangs, 

 and it could be clearly seen that it had a connection with 

 the cavity at the root of the grooved fangs and that it was 

 the gland which secreted the sticky fluid found in the sheath 

 enveloping the fangs. 



The next move was to ascertain if the organ was really a 

 gland capable of secreting any fluid, whether venomous or 

 not. Dr. Robinson, of the Veterinary Institute at Grahams- 

 town, made a microscopical examination of its structure, and 

 reports it is undoubtedly glandular and capable of secreting. 

 Subsequent experiments by myself bear out this statement, 

 and, moreover, under the micioscope, a sticky, colourless 

 fluid, identical with that found in the sheath, was observed 

 in the structure of the glands and was pressed out upon the 

 microscopical slide with the tip of a lancet. Small pieces 

 of these glands v.'ere cut up and inserted under the skin of 

 liibbits, and slight pressure applied for an instant. Witiiin 

 15 minutes the rabbits were dead. One was stricken with 



