496 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



We might reasonably infer from this that New Zealand was 

 isolated prior to the evolution of snakes from hzards or lizard-like 

 creatures. It is reasonable to assume, too, that if New Zealand 

 had been joined to AustraHa or any other snake-infested territory 

 we should find snakes still living there. 



F. 



Potency of Mamba Venom. 



Mr. Hector McKenzie-Shaw, Government Land Surveyor, 

 related to me the details of the sad death of the well-known 

 young farmer referred to in the chapter on the Mamba. He 

 was present when the deceased was bitten by the Mamba, and 

 remained with him till his death. His account is as follows : 

 " We had been out hunting, and on returning to the wagon, 

 which was about a hundred yards distant, my friend trod upon 

 a large Black Mamba which instantly bit him on the front 

 part of the left foot, just above the top of the boot. Without 

 an instant's delay we tied hgatures above and below the 

 punctures, scarified the part and rubbed the wounds full of 

 permanganate of potash crystals. I then put on' another 

 ligature above the knee, and yet another at the top of the thigh, 

 tightening them with a stick and screwing it round. Arriving 

 at the wagon, I sucked the wound thoroughly and gave him half 

 an ordinary tumbler of brandy, and placing him on a mattress, 

 covered him up with blankets and kindled a large fire at his side 

 to keep him warm. At intervals we gave him doses of brandy. 

 In all, he drank about half a bottle of it. The snake inflicted 

 the bite about three o'clock in the afternoon. For the first hour 

 my friend was somewhat excited, and talked and laughed with 

 us. Then he calmed down, and was perfectly normal apparently, 

 and complained of nothing except diarrhoea and an unpleasant 

 twitching of the muscles of the mouth and tongue. Hour after 

 hour went by, and we chatted away beside the cheerful fire, 

 planning out many things for the future, never dreaming for one 

 moment that this was the last day for my friend, who seemed 

 none the worse for the bite. A httle before 9 p.m. I noticed 

 he was less talkative, and that his eyehds were getting puffy. 

 From this time onward he seemed to be rather tired. Then, 



