436 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



Now, if snake venom permanently destroys the nerve centres, 

 rendering them for ever incapable of resuming their functions, 

 how comes it that Williams made a complete recovery ? I 

 have kept him under observation for seven years, and have 

 failed to detect any harm having resulted to his nervous 

 system. His mental functions remain unimpaired. Physically, 

 he is as vigorous as he was prior to being bitten. For some 

 months there were some slight after-effects, such as giddiness, 

 but this can be attributed to the terrible benumbing influence 

 which the venom exerted upon his whole nervous organization, 

 and the mucous membranes of his body. It is a matter of surprise 

 to all that he made so rapid a recovery, for the condition he was 

 in for a week or two was most serious. To be realized fully it 

 had to be witnessed. He was not treated with serum. 



When snake venom does not kill men, recovery invariably 

 takes place rapidly. I have observed the same rapid recovery 

 in animals. Those which I injected with a small amount of 

 venom appeared as though about to die. After a time they 

 rallied, and soon were as well as ever, excepting perhaps for 

 local swellings, or patches of blood which had oozed from the 

 small blood-vessels and accumulated under the skin. Rapid 

 recoveries, however, are not usual with men who habitually 

 use alcoholic liquor. In these cases I have observed more or 

 less serious after-effects supervene, such as the sloughing of 

 the flesh at and near the site of the bite, and even mortification 

 which necessitated amputation. This sloughing of the flesh at 

 the site of the bite sometimes occurs at intervals for two or 

 three years. 



CuRARi AND Snake Venom. 



Curari is a powerful poison of vegetable origin,* used by the 

 natives of the northern parts of South America for poisoning 

 the tips of their arrows. Curari acts upon the nerve centres in 

 very much the same manner as snake venom. Like the latter, 

 it is harmless if swallowed, providing, of course, there are no 

 abrasions of the mouth, or catarrhal conditions of the stomach. 

 When introduced into the blood through a scratch, puncture, or 

 wound, it causes paralysis of the nerves of the respiratory organs. 



* Aqueous extract of a tree {Strychnos toxifera). 



