VENOMOUS SNAKES 249 



and Viperidce from all other snakes, and from each other, 

 have already been considered (p. 234). 



[It must not be forgotten, however, that although we 

 are not at present in a position to deal with the matter 

 succinctly, the bite of the Opisthoglyphe Colubridce is 

 suspicious, and that there is at least one well-authenticated 

 case of a bite from one of the Opisthoglyphes proving 

 extremely serious to a healthy European. The case in 

 question has been reported by Mr. F. W. Fitz-Simons, 

 and the Opisthoglyphe in question is Dispholidus typus, 

 a large South African species known locally as the 

 " boomslang." An hour after being bitten the victim 

 complained of throbbing headache, and began to vomit. 

 Shortly afterwards blood began to ooze from the bite, 

 and from the nose, mouth, bladder, and bowels, and also 

 to extra vasate under the skin in large patches in several 

 parts of the body. The victim lingered between life and 

 death for several days, and did not completely recover 

 until the end of three weeks. Some fowls bitten by large 

 " boomslangs," as a sort of control experiment, died 

 within twenty minutes. The " boomslang " is a large 

 tree-snake with a long tail ; the head is distinct from the 

 neck, the snout is short, and the eye is very large with 

 a round pupil; the scales are oblique, very narrow, and 

 keeled, and there are nineteen to twenty-one in a trans- 

 verse row ; the ventral shields are either rounded or 

 obtusely angulate at the sides, and the sub-caudals are 

 in two rows. The maxilla is short and carries seven or 

 eight small teeth, followed by three very large grooved 

 fangs ; the transpalatine bone is forked anteriorly. The 

 colour is very variable, brown or olive or green above, 

 yellowish or greyish below ; the scales and shields some- 

 times have dark edges, and the head may be speckled 

 with black and the belly with brown ; or the colour may 

 be black above, each scale having a yellowish or greenish 

 spot. The head of this species is shown in fig. 106.] 



The position of the Colnbridce and Viperidce in the order 

 of Ophidia is shown in the following table, which, as well 



