206 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
was killed and her body buried in a retired locality, lest some barefooted Kaffir 
might tread upon her head and thus meet his death.” 
The puff adder is most generally found imbedded in the sand with his cruel 
head projecting only a few inches, apparently watching for an unwary passer-by, 
be it man or beast. In such a position it presents a truly appalling appearance, 
more frightful indeed than are our conceptions of a demon. Not only is its bite 
fatal to man, but horses, or cattle die 
within a few hours after inoculation with 
its poison. Venomous as is this ser¬ 
pent, it speedily succumbs to nicotine 
poison. This fact is taken advantage of 
by the Kaffirs, who frequently kill the 
reptile by spitting tobacco juice into its 
opened mouth, or by irritating or inducing 
it to bite a stick that has first been 
smeared with the pasty nicotine that col¬ 
lects in the stem of a pipe smoked for a 
long time without cleaning. 
The poison of the puff adder is used 
by the Kaffirs in which to steep their arrows to make them more deadly, first 
covering the arrow point with a glutinous substance to make the poison adhere. 
The Kaffirs also drink the poison in order, as they believe, to render them¬ 
selves proof against all venom¬ 
ous creatures. 
The color of the puff 
adder is brown on the back, 
checkered with dirty black 
and white, and from the neck 
runs a dark red band up and 
over the centre of the head. 
Other species of the viper 
found in Africa are the River 
Jack (Clotho nasicornis ), and 
the Berg Viper (clotho atro- 
pos), both of which are very 
dangerous. The former pos¬ 
sesses the curious feature of 
a horn on the nose, or what 
appears at first sight as such. 
This formation, however, is 
not horn, but is due to the 
development of long scales 
that rise up and project over 
the point of the nose, a feature found only in the male. Its color is deep 
black, flecked with oval spots of white along the back. The latter, or berg 
viper , is found, as its name implies, chiefly among the hills, though it often 
wanders into the plains, and very frequently into houses, especially on the 
approach of colder weather. Its length is rarely so great as two feet, and 
though in appearance it is most repulsive it is slow to anger and the bite 
HORNED VIPER CHARMING A JERBOA. 
