THE VENOM OF THE AUSTRALIAN BLACK SNAKE, 247 
In this paper we have endeavoured to give as complete an 
account of the composition of the venom of our Black snake, as 
our supply of material would allow. ‘The particular species was 
chosen because we had the largest supply of this kind of poison. 
Method of obtaining the poison. 
Our method is a modification of that adopted by the Indian 
snake-men, who employ a mussel-shell covered with a plantain 
leaf to catch the poison. The snake is firmly grasped immediately 
behind the head and as a result of this and previous manipulation 
he generally opens his mouth. The shell is thrust between the 
jaws so that when the creature bites, the fangs penetrate the leaf 
and the poison trickles into the receptacle below. We follow a 
like procedure, only instead of a mussel-shell and plantain leaf, we 
use a hollow framework of wood in the shape of an inclined plane, 
and in both planes of which holes are cut near the sharp angle A. 
(See figure. ) 
The upper hole is covered with thin rubber sheeting such as is 
used by dentists in the stopping of teeth, and the edges of the 
lower are bevelled so as to hold a small watch-glass, which is kept 
in position by a pair of clips. The ingenious idea of using rubber 
is due to Mr. Bray a naturalist of this city. 
By this device we obtain the poison free from all secretion from 
the mouth. It flows direct from the fang into a watch-glass the 
weight of which is known. The glass is removed and reweighed 
with contents, then placed in a desiccator over calcium chloride, 
and when dry, again weighed. From these data it is easy to calcu- 
late the percentage of solids in the sample of poison obtained. 
