DEATH ADDER. 61 
10 to 15 young ones are produced annually, which, as soon as they 
have broken the covering, and are scarcely dry, begin to snap, if 
touched. 
Hzperiments.—This snake is not so venomous as has been repre- 
sented. The late G. Krefft demonstrated the fact that its bite is 
not necessarily fatal, which it had popularly been supposed to be. 
A lizard 7 inches long, that was experimented upon, lived for 
twelve hours after its bite; a green tree-frog bitten by the same 
snake survived about as long. A large dog bitten by a captive 
death adder, in one of the experiments at the Melbourne University, 
was dead in 18 minutes. Mr. Bray, naturalist, of Sydney, experi- 
mented on several rats during the summer of 1892, and found that 
they died on an average of three minutes, after being bitten. 
Cases.—A Chinaman at Waterloo, near Sydney, noticed what 
he thought was a stick lying on one of the beds of the garden, where 
he was at work, he was going to remove it; but it proved to be a 
death adder, which bit him on the arm; and, notwithstanding the 
best medical aid, and all known remedies, the man died on the fol- 
lowing day. There have been records in the press of persons re- 
covering from the bite of this reptile—one from Northern Queensland 
may be instanced. Here is another :—Some years ago a lady resid- 
ing near Goulburn, when picking flowers in her garden, was severely 
bitten on the little finger of the right hand by a mature death adder, 
The reptile clung to her finger savagely, but being shaken off left 
two distinct punctures, from which the blood flowed freely, The 
usual simple remedies, such as were known then, were adopted, and 
the lady recovered. This case happened before the strychnine 
remedy was known. The reptile, when killed, proved to be a brown 
freckled specimen; it measured nearly 29 inches The Sydney 
Morning Herald, Oct. 28, 1893, says :—‘‘ While the members of a 
party were gathering bushes near the Kensington Racecourse, they 
came across a death adder, but one of the party not knowing what 
it was was about to pick it up, when he noticed it move. A com- 
panion pulled him back. and at the same time smote the reptile 
with a whiphandle, killing it. The reptile measured 36in. in 
length, and was about as thick as a man’s wrist.” The Toowoomba 
Chronicle recently reported the case of a child, two years old, that was 
bitten on the finger by a reptile, which, on being killed, was found 
to be a death adder. The bitten finger was removed, and thus much 
of the poison was prevented from entering the system, but sufficient 
had been absorbed to produce alarming symptoms. On the applica- 
tion of the strychnine remedy this child speedily recovered. In 
Jan., 1892, the Maitland Mercury reported a case: A lad 16 years 
of age was bitten on the finger, by an adder, at More Duval Station, 
near Yarraman, The strychnine antidote of Dr. Mueller was applied 
by a medical man, and the youth was restored. 
Food.—It feeds on frogs, lizards and small mammals. Austra- 
nae snakes live for months without food or water, as proved by Mr. 
ray. 
