With the characteristic hood raised and eyes glittering with fierce anger, an enraged cobra is a fearsome sight. A couple of drops of its venom are quite sufficient to kill a giant. The Ringhals cobra or Spitting snake, _Sepedon haemachates_, is not quite so long as its cousin, but is highly venomous and very ferocious when roused. The name “ringhals” means “ring-neck,” and has reference to the whitish band or bands across the throat. Not only has this reptile the power to inflict a deadly bite with its poison fangs--it is able to spit a stream of venom into the eyes of a person standing some feet away. Dogs and calves are often blinded in this way. The puff-adder, _Bitis arietans_, is an important member of the viper family. This flat-headed, repulsive-looking creature, with its thick, dark-brown body, is highly venomous and exceedingly dangerous, as it coils up and lies quite still in the open until touched or roused. Although extremely sluggish in nature, it lunges with amazing rapidity. When its warning hiss is heard a hasty retirement is expedient. Among the other dangerous adders are the Night adder, _Causus rhombeatus_, which lays eggs; the small Peringuey’s adder, _Bitis Peringueyi_; the queer Hornsman or Horned adder, _Bitis cornuta_, which has two or more erect horn-like scales over each eye, like little horns; the West African adder, _Bitis gabonica_, which will bury itself in the sand for hours, with only the head visible; the Berg adder, _Bitis atropos_, which keeps to the mountain regions; and the Oviparous adder, _Atractaspis bibronii_, which is rarely found, since it burrows in the sand after the manner of the blind burrowing reptiles. All the snakes mentioned above belong to the front-fanged variety, which are all poisonous. The back-fanged snakes are more or less poisonous. These include in South-West Africa the Herald or Red-lipped snake, _Leptodira hotambaeia_, with a speckled body, glossy head, and red upper lip; the Whip snake, _Psammophis jurcatus_, a thin brown reptile with a brittle tail; the Spotted Schaapsteker, _Trimerorhinus rhombeatus_, well-known, too, on the Karroo; the small Damaraland many-spotted snake, _Rhamphiophis multimaculatus_; the Dapple-backed sand-snake, _Psammophis notostictus_; and the Namaqualand sand-snake, _Psammophis trigrammus_. None of these back-fanged reptiles are to be greatly dreaded; they will rarely attack a person; but it is not wise to take liberties with them. Even a snake will turn.