SNAKE-POISON LITERATUKE. 33 



leaf, and the poison flows freely through the 

 fanj^s into the shell. An extra quantity of poison 

 is obtained by exerting pressure upon the glands. 

 The snakes do not always bite readily, but some 

 times require a good deal of irritating ; sometimes 

 only one fang penetrates, and it is then necessary 

 to make the snake bite again, in which there is 

 generally some difficulty. The venom is then 

 removed and poured into watch-glasses, to be 

 dried and bottled off for use as occasion arises. 

 Poison thus dried will retain its power for years. 

 I have experimented with some fifteen years 

 old, and I found that it had lost none of its 

 virulence. 



Natives tell many extraordinary stories about The cow- 



milking 



snakes ; amongst others, that a snake called the sna^e. 

 Dhnarash milks cows. The belief that snakes 

 have the power to suck is not confined to natives. 

 A gentleman told me of a story he heard from 

 another to the effect, that a lady who was suck- 

 ling her infant one night, woke up and found a 

 snake sucking at the other breast. Suction can- 

 not, however, be accomplished without the aid 

 of lips and a broad tongue, both of which are 

 absent in the snake. This story, like many others, 

 is a myth. 



