BLACK SNAKE, 41 
had the fangs hooked inwards, which the natives articularly 
pointed out. A smaller snake of the same kind abated? one of our 
party, and also a native, but the former shook it from his clothes; 
it then fixed its teeth in the shin of the native, who detached it, but 
as no blood came from the bite, he seemed to care little about it.” 
In Noy., 1890, Mrs. Noble, of Fountaindale, near Jamberoo, 
had occasion to go into the dairy. Whilst there she heard a 
peculiar noise about her feet; at the same time she felt something 
touch the lower part ot her ankles. On looking to see what it was, 
to her horror she beheld a large black snake coiled round both her 
legs. She had the presence of mind to call the best dog for snakes 
on the premises. On raising her dress sufficiently to display the 
reptile, the dog at once seized it, bore it away, and killed it. 
Mr. James S. Bray, naturalist, of Sydney, narrates:—‘‘A black 
snake, caught at Botany, was sent to me on the 11th Sept., 1890. . 
The reptile, on my attempting to take it from the box, flattened 
itself out, and showed so much ‘fight’ that I closed the box again, 
intending to leave the snake for a day or two, until it became 
quieter. I forgot all about it until coming across the box on the 
6th Aug. On opening the box, in the full expectation of finding the 
reptile dead and dried up, the snake darted out quite lively. Strange 
to relate, the reptile was in grand order, The beautiful red carmine 
colour of its abdominal plates, together with the glossy black scales 
of the upper part of the body, made it quite a handsome object. 
Here and there on its body were detached portions of its shed skin, 
evidently last season’s.” A frog of large size was given to this 
snake, which had been for 329 days without food or water. The 
snake seized the frog, and held on to it for about half a minute. In 
four minutes the frog was powerless to move, through the action of 
the venom; in 17 minutes its limbs were quite limp, and only a few 
spasmodic jerks of the body gave signs of life ; in 43 minutes it was 
quite dead. 
Lumholtz, the Norwegian naturalist, says:—‘‘ During my 
sojourn in Mackay, my dog, a fine Gordon setter, was exposed to 
great danger ata station near the town, She suddenly stopped in 
the high grass, when | discovered a splendid specimen of the black 
snake, whose head had assumed the flat form which is peculiar to 
venomous snakes when they become excited. The hot weather had 
made it still more angry. With the head slightly raised from the 
ground, it lay just ready to give my dog a fatal bite, if the latter 
made the slightest motion, I hastily called the dog back, and 
killed the treacherous enemy.” 
At Binalong, some years ago, a large two-year-old Newfound: 
land dog died in seven minutes after being bitten on the nose by one 
ot these reptiles. It is to be observed, however, that the day was 
very hot, no water was near, and the snake was greatly enraged 
when it bit the dog. ; 
