4o6 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



Elevating the limb will often stop the bleeding, or sewing 

 up. the wound with two or three fine stitches. 



If a snake should inflict a bite upon the face, head, neck or 

 trunk, scarify the punctures freely to make as much blood as 

 possible flow out, and then apply permanganate of potash. If 

 a friend be at hand, get him to suck the wound if no permanganate 

 be available. Before sucking, the punctures should be scarified 

 to facilitate the withdrawal of the venom. 



Bear in mind, especially, that there is grave danger of 

 mortification of the limb setting in, if a ligature is left on too 

 long. After half an hour, or as soon as j^ou have applied potash 

 or bled the limb, slacken the ligature very slightly for just 

 one instant, and tighten up again. Repeat this operation every 

 five minutes or so for half an hour to an hour. The object of 

 this is to allow only a small quantity of the poisoned blood at 

 a time into the body and thus give Nature's resistant forces a 

 chance to cope with, overcome, and expel the poison before a 

 fresh supply enters. Should there be a good deal of venom in 

 the blood of the ligatured limb, it is obvious that if allowed all 

 at once to rush into the body, it would be likely to overcome 

 Nature's resistance and cause death. 



About a yard of strong rubber of about the calibre of a 

 lead pencil makes a splendid ligature, or a strong strip of linen 

 t'd\)e. Rubber grips the flesh uniformly all round the limb, and 

 if twisted round a couple or more times its constricting power 

 would be very great. 



A red cross bandage is also highly serviceable. 



One ligature, as a general rule, is sufficient, but if enough 

 material is at hand to convert into several ligatures, it is desir- 

 able to be more thorough, and apply ligatures as shown in the 

 accompanying illustrations. When a snake bites, it often injects 

 venom into the muscular tissues. In the case of the Puff Adder 

 the fangs may penetrate about half an inch. In these cases it 

 will be necessary to scarify the punctures to that depth. As a 

 general rule, it is advisable to make the cuts about a quarter of 

 an inch deep. The venom often spreads out in the tissues, hence 

 the necessity of freely cutting the site of the bite so that the 

 permanganate of potash, when rubbed in, may reach all the 

 venom, or most of it. Now, when snake venom is injected into 

 the tissues it is rapidly sucked up and carried to the larger blood 



