488 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



there any appearance of the fangs having penetrated througli 

 the skin, nor was there the slightest symptom of poisoning 

 manifested in the animal. Many times I have been bitten on 

 the bare hands by Schaapstekers, but in no case did I give the 

 reptile time to get a full grip so as to work its fangs well home. 

 Slight discoloration of the part bitten, and a certain amount of 

 pain in the glands of the armpit supervened. However, in the 

 majority of cases there was not the slightest symptom of 

 poisoning. 



Startling Results of Experiments. 



I allowed five newly-captured Schaapstekers {Trimerorhinus 

 rhomheatus) to bite the bared legs of five fowls. Each snake 

 was permitted to take a full grip and hold on for several seconds. 

 Three of the fowls showed no symptoms of poisoning. One 

 became drowsy and died in about six hours. The other moped 

 for a day, but recovered completely. The flesh for an inch 

 around the site of the bite was a light greenish-yellow, and the 

 whole leg was slightly swollen. Taking another batch of fowls, 

 six in number, I caused six different Schaapstekers to bite them 

 on a part of the thigh previously bared. Each snake was allowed 

 to hold on for several seconds. In two of the fowls it was noticed 

 that immediately under the two punctures made by the fangs 

 sUght discoloration occurred, showing that the fangs had really 

 gone through the skin and ruptured some capillary blood-vessels. 

 In both these instances the fowls died. One died in ten minutes, 

 the other in seventeen minutes. 



These experiments were repeated until it was clearly proven 

 to me that, should the Schaapsteker succeed in fuUy penetrating 

 the skin, and should it be able to force a Httle venom through, 

 its toxic effects were very powerful and rapid. The poison is 

 evidently more or less akin to that of the Cobra, for no haemor- 

 rhage occurred in any part of the body. This shows that the 

 poisonous principle which kills in the Schaapsteker venom is a 

 powerful neurotoxin. 



It is a difficult matter to collect venom direct from back- 

 fanged snakes. However, I succeeded and discovered that, 

 weight for weight, Schaapsteker and Boomslang venoms were 

 more poisonous than those of the dreaded Cobra or Mamba. 



Here we have two species of snakes of the back-fanged 



