. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. SNAKES THEIR FANGS AND VENOM APPARATUS. THE ACTION OF VENOM AND THE TREATMENT OF SNAKE-BITE By J. ROY KINGHORN. X'enonious snakes are divided into two large groups: those having fangs situated in the front of the jaw, and others that carry them towards the rear of the jaw. The second group need not concern us very much, but I might say before passing that their fangs are never hollow, but are al- v/ays grooved. A typical representa- tive in Australia is the Brown Tree Snake, which is absolutely harmless to man o
. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. SNAKES THEIR FANGS AND VENOM APPARATUS. THE ACTION OF VENOM AND THE TREATMENT OF SNAKE-BITE By J. ROY KINGHORN. X'enonious snakes are divided into two large groups: those having fangs situated in the front of the jaw, and others that carry them towards the rear of the jaw. The second group need not concern us very much, but I might say before passing that their fangs are never hollow, but are al- v/ays grooved. A typical representa- tive in Australia is the Brown Tree Snake, which is absolutely harmless to man or any of the larger animals. The first group concerns us most as the majority of our Australian veno- mous snakes belong to it, as do the Cobras and Krait of India, and the Rattle Snakes and Vipers. The poison fang is a pointed, very sharp, re- curved tooth, bearing along its length either a groove or a canal, ending a short distance from the point. Australian venomous snakes have either grooved or hollow fangs which are permanentlv erect. The \^ipers and Rattle Snakes have enormously developed fangs attached to movable bones so that they may be automatic- ally erected and depressed as the jaws open and shut; these fangs are almost perfect in structure, and may be likened to a hvpodermic needle, as the edges of the groove are so flattened against each other that there is no trace of the join on the surface. As venomous snakes depend entirely upon their fangs in killing their prey, they would naturally sufifer consider- able inconvenience if they were with- out them for any length of time through loss, so Nature has made ample provision in the great majority of cases by arranging reinforcements in the form of series of successively paired fangs which grow in the gums, and are in various stages of develop- ment, the most advanced pair being in a socket beside those in use and be- coming solidly fixed and attached to the venom apparatus as soon as the old ones are lost. The venom
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