3o6 



THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



Knowing how the venom is carried into the general circula- 

 tion, it will be apparent that a ligature applied above the 



wound would considerably 

 retard the flow of the blood 

 and lymph into the body. 

 However, great care must 

 always be exercised so as not 

 to allow a very tight liga- 

 ture to remain on for more 

 than twenty minutes to half 

 an hour, else the limb may 

 mortify. The ligature should 

 be slightly loosened for a 

 moment at intervals, so as 

 to allow the venom to get 

 into the circulation so slowly 

 that the vital functions may 

 be able to cope with, over- 

 come, and cast it out before 

 it can succeed in paralysing 

 the nerve centres, and thus 

 cause death. Some of the 

 poison-charged blood may 

 be got rid of in the ligatured 

 part, by opening one or two 

 of the veins which look like 

 blue lines under the skin. 



There is no risk of bleed- 

 ing to death from an ordi- 

 nary surface vein. It is the 

 arteries which are difficult to 

 stop bleeding when severed. 

 They, however, lie deep down 

 in the tissues, not just under 

 the skin, except at places 

 such as the ankle and skull 

 where the muscles are thin 

 or absent. All the blue-looking blood channels seen under the 

 skin are veins. 



