238 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



danger of the venom being absorbed by the mouth, for the sucked 

 up venom will be mixed with blood, mucous, and permanganate. 

 The presence of the latter will render the poison harmless. 



An acquaintance of mine was bitten on the little finger by a 

 Night Adder. He instantly undid a bootlace and ligatured the 

 finger at the base. Sitting down, he scarified the wound, and 

 started sucking it. The snake bit him at lo a.m. in his garden. 

 At 3.30 p.m. we found him still sucking the wound. He said 

 that he had been sucking it at short intervals ever since being 

 bitten. He was in a state of partial collapse, which I attributed 

 to nerve shock, believing as he did that a bite from a Night Adder 

 was almost certain to terminate fatally. The following day he 

 had recovered, but the finger suppurated, and refused to heal 

 for four months. A year later it again broke out, and a large 

 dark scab formed over the site where the snake had bitten him. 

 The skin of the whole finger sloughed off, and the wound healed. 

 The following year it again broke out and did likewise. The 

 third year the same thing occurred, but to a lesser degree. Since 

 then there has been no recurrence of the symptoms. 



In cases of bites by Puff Adders I have known the same thing 

 often occur. The popular belief is that this periodic ulceration 

 at the site of the bite will continue until the death of the snake 

 which inflicted the bite. This, of course, is quite without 

 foundation. The origin of this superstition can be traced to the 

 natives, w'ho are firm believers in it. I have known Kafirs to 

 seek for days for the snake which had bitten one of their friends, 

 in order to kill it, so that the wound would quickly heal. 



Remarkable Poison Glands. 



The typically venomous snakes have their poison glands 

 situated at the sides of their heads, just beneath and behind 

 the eyes. The glands are almond-shaped. The Night Adder is 

 an exception to this general rule. Its poison glands are very 

 long, and lie on each side of the backbone of the neck-region 

 communicating w^ith the poison fangs in the mouth by means of 

 the usual duct, which is also unusually long. The illustration 

 shows this apparatus (Fig. 97). 



The Night Adders are the most interesting of all South 

 African snakes to keep in capti\'ity. They are bright and active 



