NCEIV20 0-0718

Question 1

Lesson 20

Answer 1

Lesson 20 Snake poison

Question 2

How it came abo

Answer 2

How it came about that snakes manufactured poison is a mystery.

Question 3

Over the period

Answer 3

Over the periods their saliva, a mild, digestive juice like our own, was converted into a poison that defies analysis even today.

Question 4

It was not forc

Answer 4

It was not forced upon them by the survival competition; they could have caught and lived on prey without using poison, just as the thousands of non-poisonous snakes still do.

Question 5

Poison to a sna

Answer 5

Poison to a snake is merely a luxury; it enables it to get its food with very little effort, no more effort than one bite.

Question 6

And why only sn

Answer 6

And why only snakes? Cats, for instance, would be greatly helped; no running fights with large, fierce rats or tussles with grown rabbits – just a bite and no more effort needed.

Question 7

In fact, it wou

Answer 7

In fact, it would be an assistance to all carnivores though it would be a two-edged weapon when they fought each other.

Question 8

But, of the ver

Answer 8

But, of the vertebrates, unpredictable Nature selected only snakes (and one lizard).

Question 9

One wonders sal

Answer 9

One wonders saliva into why Nature, with respect from that of others, as other on the blood.

Question 10

In the conversi

Answer 10

In the conversion of saliva into poison, one might suppose that a fixed process took place.

Question 11

It did not; som

Answer 11

It did not; some snakes manufacture a poison different in every respect from that of others, as different as arsenic is from strychnine, and having different effects.

Question 12

One poison acts

Answer 12

One poison acts on the nerves, the other on the blood.

Question 13

The makers of t

Answer 13

The makers of the nerve poison include the mambas and the cobras and their venom is called neurotoxic.

Question 14

Vipers (adders)

Answer 14

Vipers (adders) and rattlesnakes manufacture the blood poison, which is known as haemolytic.

Question 15

Both poisons ar

Answer 15

Both poisons are unpleasant, but by far the more unpleasant is the blood poison.

Question 16

It is said that

Answer 16

It is said that the nerve poison is the more primitive of the two, that the blood poison is, so to speak, a newer product from an improved formula.

Question 17

Be that as it m

Answer 17

Be that as it may, the nerve poison does its business with man far more quickly than the blood poison.

Question 18

This, however,

Answer 18

This, however, means nothing.

Question 19

Snakes did not

Answer 19

Snakes did not acquire their poison for use against man but for use against prey such as rats and mice, and the effects on these of viperine poison is almost immediate.