SNAKE-POISON LITERATURE, 25 



spheno-palatine, acting upon the fang through 

 their respective insertions into the posterior 

 ■apophysis of the submaxillary bone, and the 

 inside of the palate bone, draw its point violently 

 backward, so as to drive it more deeply into the 

 flesh. At this instant occur a third series of 

 motions, which result in the further deepening of 

 the wound, and in the injection of the poison.'' 



The lower jaw is closed upon the bitten part 

 or member. Where the surface struck is flat 

 and large, this action will have but slight in- 

 fluence. Where the jaw shuts on a small limb 

 or member, the consequent effects will be far 

 more likely to prove serious, since the power 

 thus to shut the mouth materially aids the 



purpose of the blow The first two 



muscles tend simply to shut the mouth ; the 

 anterior temporal, however, is so folded about 

 the poison-gland, that while it draws up the 

 lower jaw, it simultaneously compresses two- 

 thirds of the body of the poison-gland. This 

 force is so applied as to squeeze the fluids out of 

 the upper and back parts of the gland and drive 

 them forward into the duct. The anterior lower 

 angle of the gland, as well as a portion of the 

 duct, is subjected to similar pressure at the same 



