of 101.7°, which did not persist (blankets and heating pad). Bleeding of mucous membranes in the mouth began about 5:30, apparently mostly from gums. 8:30 PM ate 2 pieces milk toast." By morning, after a fitful night filled with bloody urine and violent nausea and vomiting, Schmidt decided he was feeling better, and even called the museum to say he'd be at work that day. He stopped taking notes on his condition. But sadly, he took a sudden turn for the worse after lunch. He struggled to breathe as his wife frantically called their physician and emergency aid. Then his breathing stopped. Resuscitation attempts failed. Just before 3 PM on September 26th, 1957, when Schmidt arrived at the hospital, he was pronounced dead. "Schmidt was a hugely respectedthought to use that antivenom, since it wasn't made for snakebites from African snakes or rear-fanged ones. "Its also highly likely that Schmidt would have known that a rattlensnake antivenom was unlikely to be particularly effective against a bite by a completely distinct snake," he noted, and therefore, he may not have instructed doctors to administer antivenom even if he had been in their care early enough for it to have possibly helped. Today, the boomslang is considered one of Africa's most deadly snakes, and other rear-fanged species have become respected for their potent venoms. "Schmidt's death raised the attention of the potential toxicity of non-viper and elapid snakes to the scientific community, which resulted in a number of studies in the 60s and 70s," said Casewell. "Of