340 Transactions of the Boyal Society of South Africa. 
That is to say, three of five snakes belonging to the family Opistoglypha 
are apparently not harmless. 
A reasonable objection might be made against the method of inocu- 
lating the maxillary gland substance itself instead of their secretion, 
namely, that emulsions of any mammalian organ have toxic effect on 
mammalian organisms, and that reptilian albuminoids must be still more 
toxic. Indeed, control experiments with other organs of the snakes in 
question have to be made ; the best proof as to whether a snake is 
harmless or poisonous is certainly the injection of the secretion of the 
maxillary glands. 
But, on the other hand, it is not very likely that an emulsion of 
maxillary glands would provoke symptoms so similar to those that 
signify a real snake-poison, and it is not easy to understand why every 
emulsion had not a toxic effect (emulsion from Boodon and Tarbophis 
were completely without effect). 
Finally, I should like to mention as a corroboration of this opinion 
that the Opistoglyphal snakes, the emulsions of which were poisonous, 
have longer grooved teeth than those yielding a harmless gland 
emulsion. 
The symptoms in all animals injected with the poisons of Opisto- 
glypha, Proteroglypha, and Solenoglypha were about the same, namely 
as follows : — 
Uneasiness ; accelerated, sometimes spasmodic respiration ; saliva- 
tion ; cramps ; finally paralysis and retarded respiration antecedent to 
death. 
That is to say, the first symptoms are expressions of nervous 
excitement, finally followed by paralysis. In this respect the symptoms 
resemble those of rabies and narcotics. 
It would be very useful in practice to be able to point out the family 
to which a snake belongs from the clinical symptoms produced by its 
poison. As it has to be deduced from numerous experiments in other 
countries, the antisera against South Africa snake-venom would be specific 
for each of the various families of snakes. In a concrete case of 
snake-bite the knowledge of the zoological classification of the snake 
would determine which serum has to be applied for the treatment. 
As only the adequate or specific serum is efficacious, the selection of 
this serum (among a number of snake antisera) for the application must 
be of great importance. 
According to our experiments, there is a difference between the 
symptoms of Opistoglypha venom and Solenoglypha venom, namely, the 
poison of Opistoglypha produced no local alterations or very slight ones, 
while the Solenoglypha poison caused haemorrhagic infiltrations, swellings, 
and necrosis of the skin. 
