352 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



shed, but that if the same snake is allowed to bite into the leg 

 of a dead fowl or a lump of meat, and provided the reptile is 

 allowed to grip like a dog and compress its jaws strongly, from 

 two to four times the amount of venom is discharged, compared 

 with the amount usually obtained by allowing the snake to bite 

 through rubber or Battiste cloth stretched over a glass. 



If a man be hungry and you give him a piece of dry cork or 

 wood to bite or chew, little if any salivary fluid will flow into his 

 mouth ; but if you give that same man a morsel of appetizing 

 food to bite or chew, an abundance of saliva will flow, and the 

 salivary glands will receive a powerful stimulus, and will instantly 

 exert themselves to manufacture more saliva. So it is, in a 

 sense, with venomous snakes. By the same pyschological in- 

 fluence their venom glands, and the nerves which work them, 

 are roused into intense activity when the snake, with malice 

 intent, deliberately bites the flesh of an enemy or some substance 

 which deceives him into that belief or which tends to impart the 

 same feeling. 



Now and then when a snake lunges and misses its aim, the 

 entire contents of the venom glands are shed, but in these cases 

 the reptile has been wrought up to the highest pitch of excite- 

 ment, and in the act of lunging the glands are compressed violently, 

 there being no time to counteract the impulse imparted, as is 

 the case with a man who aims a blow with his fist at some object 

 which dodges just at the critical instant. The man is unable 

 to counteract the command sent to the muscles of his arm to 

 deliver a blow. 



When a snake is dead, the venom oozes from the fangs on 

 the slightest pressure on the glands, and can be easily collected 

 by elevating the fangs and compressing the venom glands. 



Nature of Snake Venom. 



Snake venom is a slightly acid fluid* of about the same 

 consistency as glycerine, and tinged more or less with yellow 

 according to the species of snake. However, on exposure 

 to the air and light, it gradually loses its fluidity. When 

 exposed over calcium chloride it quickly dries and cracks 



* The acid in the venom causes smarting in the wounds inflicted by the 

 fangs and faciUtates rapid absorption. 



