THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



SNAKES 



THEIR FANGS AND VENOM APPARATUS. 

 THE ACTION OF VENOM AND THE TREATMENT OF SNAKE-BITE 



By J. ROY KINGHORN. 



X'enonious snakes are divided into 

 two large groups : those having fangs 

 situated in the front of the jaw, and 

 others that carry them towards the 

 rear of the jaw. The second group 

 need not concern us very much, but I 

 might say before passing that their 

 fangs are never hollow, but are al- 

 v/ays grooved. A typical representa- 

 tive in Australia is the Brown Tree 

 Snake, which is absolutely harmless to 

 man or any of the larger animals. 



The first group concerns us most as 

 the majority of our Australian veno- 

 mous snakes belong to it, as do the 

 Cobras and Krait of India, and the 

 Rattle Snakes and Vipers. The poison 

 fang is a pointed, very sharp, re- 

 curved tooth, bearing along its length 

 either a groove or a canal, ending a 

 short distance from the point. 



Australian venomous snakes have 

 either grooved or hollow fangs which 

 are permanentlv erect. The \^ipers 

 and Rattle Snakes have enormously 

 developed fangs attached to movable 

 bones so that they may be automatic- 

 ally erected and depressed as the jaws 

 open and shut ; these fangs are almost 

 perfect in structure, and may be 

 likened to a hvpodermic needle, as the 

 edges of the groove are so flattened 

 against each other that there is no 

 trace of the join on the surface. As 

 venomous snakes depend entirely 

 upon their fangs in killing their prey, 

 they would naturally sufifer consider- 

 able inconvenience if they were with- 

 out them for any length of time 

 through loss, so Nature has made 

 ample provision in the great majority 

 of cases by arranging reinforcements 

 in the form of series of successively 

 paired fangs which grow in the gums, 

 and are in various stages of develop- 

 ment, the most advanced pair being 

 in a socket beside those in use and be- 

 coming solidly fixed and attached to 



the venom apparatus as soon as the 

 old ones are lost. 



The venom of snakes, and the ap- 

 paratus by which it is injected, are 

 subjects which have been extensively 

 investigated by scientists. The 

 venom glands of snakes are situated 

 under the eyes, and each gland is en- 

 closed in a dense fibrous sheath which 

 is surrounded by the main muscles of 

 the jaw. From each gland there is a 

 duct, or tube, which extends forward, 

 terminating over the entrance to the 

 canal or groove in the fang. The 

 harder a snake bites the harder the 



SKULLS OF SNAKES SHOWING^BITE MARKS 



At the top is a Python skull (such as Carpet or 

 Diamond snake which are non-venomous, all the teeth 

 being solid). Next is a Tiger or Black snake, and at 

 the bottom a Viper, all of which are venomous. The 

 Brown Tree Snake with fangs at the rear of the jaw 

 is only slightly venomous. 



