486 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



of Boomslang bites, blood taken before death appeared to have 

 lost entirely the power of coagulating, and this was also seen 

 in one case (out of six) of Puff Adder bite. Partial loss of co- 

 agulability was seen ante-mortem in one case of Cobra bite in 

 a sheep, and in several cases post-mortem coagulation appeared 

 to be incomplete. 



It would appear from our experiments that, in the majority 

 of cases of snake bite in larger animals, no structural alterations 

 in the blood can be observed during life. There may, however, 

 be a diminished coagulative power, and this is seen especially 

 as a result of the bite of a Boomslang. 



It will be necessary to confirm and amplify these results by 

 further investigations. 



W. Horner Andrews. 



B. 



The Venom of the Schaapsteker. 

 [Another back-fanged Snake.) 



The Schaapsteker is one of the back-fanged division of snakes. 

 The fangs are set halfway back in the upper jaw. They are 

 grooved, and hke all the back-fanged snakes the Schaapstekers 

 possess poison glands. These glands, however, are not some 

 distance from the fangs nor connected with them by tiny duCts 

 or tubes, as is the case with front-fanged snakes. The glands 

 are situated immediately under the skin. One end of the poison 

 gland comes against a hole in the upper jaw in which the fangs 

 are set, and the venom oozes down through this hole into a 

 mucous sheath which envelopes the fangs. The venom is of 

 greater consistency than that of the typically venomous front- 

 fanged snakes. It collects in this mucous sheath. When the 

 snake bites, in order to get the venom into the wound, it is 

 obliged to take a firm grip and press the fangs strongly into the 

 flesh. The longer it is allowed to grip and worry the flesh, the 

 more venom it will force through the fangs. It is generally 

 beheved that the Schaapsteker, as its name impHes,.is in the 

 habit of biting sheep. The fangs of these snakes are so small 

 that even if a full grip were obtained on a sheep's leg, they, 



