498 THE SNAKES OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



at 10 p.m. \vithout any warning he clutched his throat desperately 

 and sprang with a bound to his feet, threw his arms out, gripped 

 his throat again, and with a desperate effort tried to speak to 

 me, but as he was uttering my name his breath failed and he 

 collapsed upon the ground, struggled, and was dead in five 

 minutes. All this came upon us with such starthng suddenness 

 that we were appalled. In laying him out I noticed that the 

 entire left side of Ids body was stiff and rigid, while the right 

 side was quite relaxed. He evidently had had a paralytic 

 stroke just before death. On removing the clothes from the 

 body I noticed an irregular line of dark purple of varying 

 diameter up to two inches, running from the site of the bite up 

 the left side, over the left shoulder, up behind the ear to the base 

 of the skull. There was no swelling or discoloration other than 

 this livid band anjrwhere about the body, nor was there any 

 haemorrhage from the mucous surfaces. Diarrhoea was more or 

 less pronounced from the time he was bitten till his death. I 

 mentioned this hvid line running from the wound up to the 

 skull to some medical men, but they seemed to be rather sceptical 

 about it, but I assure you it is exactly as I have stated to 5'ou. 



" My friend wa^ exceptionally strong and muscular. In fact, 

 he was remarkable for his physical strength. He was within 

 two or three days of being twenty-one years of age. He was 

 one of the most fearless and daring of men, but strange to say 

 he had an absolute horror and dread of snakes. About a week 

 before his death he stumbled over a Puff Adder and declared that 

 if he should have another such experience it would be his last, he 

 would clear out of the country, for he could not stand the sight 

 of snakes. Poor fellow, his next experience was indeed his last." 



It will be noticed from the above narrative that the per- 

 manganate of potash and the ligatures were applied almost 

 instantly after the infliction of the bite. Mr. McKenzie-Shaw 

 says not more than a minute or two could have passed before 

 both operations were completed. The wounds were thoroughly 

 incised, and permanganate rubbed in freely. We must therefore 

 conclude that sufficient venom reached the general circulation 

 within a minute of the infliction of the bite to cause death. It 

 will thus be seen how potent is the venom of the Mamba. 



The symptoms in this case indicate that the venom did not 

 cause pronounced nerve depression. The actual cause of death 



