The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-17 00:00:00

SERPENTS.

'From a New York paper.)

We consider the following views by-M.-Respail to pes-
seas much scienthgc as well as popular interest. Ser-
pents are divided kat° two grand classes, of which the
one bite without poisoning the wound, while the others
have a venomous bite. The adder, the boa, &c., belong
to the first list ; the viper, the rattlesnake, &c., are in
the second ; and these species, fearful from the accidents
coesecutive to their bite, owe this property to two teeth
of the upper jaw, which are moveable, of a crooked
figure, and perforated by a canal, which communicates
with a glandular reservoir, in which the poison is elabo-
rated. When the animal closes its jaws,
these two teeth
lie flat against the palate ; when, hn the contrary. the
aagnaiimna,laoud penthseitpa
slmyooufthth,ethineuseadteethb setoamtelpirnegsuinpgrigthhet
into secretingthe d
organental ofe atehael, poison,w hi
which
t
causeslelsu,s deposits );he hliuild't to in passthe
wnedp.palrnattnheeiaadrdeeprl,aeandd ohtyb e;eneooonn-vdenroomwouofs serpents,
this
as there
whe re may
meet
e .e
s nothing
with intermediate
i t abruptinnature,
statesiti s
tveryeeth . S
possibletilt,
that
between these two forms, and which thaurisowutesenilnhfinouvneelnycnetoos
ri
showas s classifications.
those
v
confusedirecte x
which praepsneirddieeenmocvebeatr the specific transformation or cross-
ing of the animal races may not clothe the one of these
species with the character of the other, or, at least, pro-
duce a modification in the forms of both.
Irenemous serpents acquire a greater virulence ac-
cording to the elevation of the temperature. The viper
of our climate is much( more dangerous in the height of
summer than at the commencement of spring, in gravelly
and arid plains than in shady positions ; the rattlesnake
of the Indies is more venemous than the viper of the
north of Europe. The irritation of the animal may
render the wound more dangerous by infiltrating the
poison more deeply into our tissues ; it is under such
circumstances that the viper, biting twice, and thus leav-
ing four traces of its gripe, has led some ancient authors
to believe that the females have four venemous teeth and
the males only two ; the female serpents, in fact, at the
period of leaving their eggs, or of incubation, are more
irritable than the males.
The ancients were perfectly aware that the poison of
the viper, so subtle when introduced by puncture, is in-
offensive in the stomach ; they were in the habit of in-
troducing the viper, frequently the head as well as the
tail, as an ingredient in their electearies. But it is espe-
cially by the experiments of Redi Fontana and Charras
that this previously popular belief his been rightly de-
monstrated. There are many other substances which
we digest with impunity, but which become so many
causes of poisoning if infiltrated into the blood by means
of a puncture:: is not pus, even e hen of good character,
to be reckoned among this class ?
In the various symptoms of this kind of poisoning, as
well as in the means which serve as its antidotes, every-
thing seems to indicate that the poison of the viper acts
-by an acid property, and by coagulating, atter the
manner of acids, the albumen of the blood ; for since
the time of Fontana it is generally admitted that the
best of antidotes is ammonia, applied externally as well
as taken internally. The whole becomes swollen, red,
and ecchymosed. Sometimes it is surrounded with
small vesicles of watery bladders ; every part becomes
congested—the head, the lungs, th abdomen, the limbs,
the face ; vertigo and stupor take place, to be shortly
followed by delirium and coma. The pulse falls ; the
circulation, at first irregular, grows weaker and weaker,
for at every point it meets with an interruption from the
coagulation of the blood. It is a frigid poison ; the
paralysed stomach rejects the nutriment, which acts upon
it as a dead weight. The patient commences to vomit,
but falls off into a state of dozing : his agony is a mortal
sleep. The actual or potential cautery made upon the
place immediately after the accident prevents all those
disorders. Ammonia taken internally and ammoniacal
frictions dissipate them at a more advanced period.
Abandoned to itself the disease is cured spontaneously
only in those cases where the dose of the poison has
been infinitely small.
Serpents are fond of milk ; they are also greedy of
wine, which intoxicates them ; they have occasionally
been seen to milk the cow, and they have been found
drowned at the bottom of vats.
From persevering inquiries, I have become convinced
that the power of fascination, which has been attributed
to serpents, vipers as well as adders, is not a fable or
vulgar fiction. It has frequently occurred to persons
travelling through forests to witness the poor little birds,
while uttering a plaintive cry, descend from branch to
branch, attracted as it were by some occult power, and
yield themselves up within the jaws of a serpent lying
hidden among the boughs of the tree—obedient victims
to the glance of their executioner. The thread of this
charm is broken by simply whisking a switch through
the air ; no doubt, from the fact, that the whistling of
the air frightens the serpent, and thus paralyses its mag-
netic effluvium. What is the mechanism of this incre-
dible fascination, which so perfectly recals to one's mind
the fables of the Sirens? There is undoubtedly here a
physical cause, an emanation which envelopes the bird in
anatmosphere of asphyxiating gas, in the same way as the
spider envelopes the fly in its gauze-like net. To explain
the phenomenon in a perfect manner, let us suppose
that the serpent has the power of emitting (one on each
side of its mouth) two streams of a poisonous and stu-
pifying gas, which proceed to unite above the head of
the bird. If the bird attempt to fly the danger, it can
only do so by descending, for it is there only it will find
a free space ; in proportion as it descends, the two jets
will continue to unite and to follow it; and it is thus
that to escape asphyxia the poor bird drops within the
jaws of the serpent; it falls into Scylla in avoiding Cha-
rybdis. The power of fascination being common to
vipers as well as adders, it is evident that these latter
have the faculty of regaining, in certain cases, the cha-
racter which alone makes the difference of the two spe-
cies. The venom of the serpent partakes of the nature
of all organic poisons; it does not lose its venemous qua.
lities by drying; and the prick from the tooth of a dead
viper or rattlesnake is as much feared by those who are
in the habit of making preparations of these reptiles as
that of the living animal.
The salamander is a lizard without scales, the skin of
which, speckled with yellow, exhales a fluid which some
persons have regarded as poisonous. This fact needs
confirmation ; yet it does not seem destitute of foun-
dation.
The toad, that degenerated species of frog, which is
found in ruins and miry places, exudes from its whole
body, in the same manner as the salamander, a viscous
fluid ; but this is not its true poison. All country peo-
IA are well aware that when pursued the toad ejaculates
an acid and corrosive liquid as if to obstruct its persecu-
tors. The poisonous quality of this liquid has been
often questioned by writers who have never observed its
effects ; but there are so many evidences as to the truth
of this assertion that it would be presumptuous not to
admit it as a demonstrated fact. Matthiolus attributes
to the poison of toads the sudden death of persons who
have eaten of strawberries, mushrooms, or other legumes
which the toad has besmeared with its venom. Ambrose
Pare cites, among other facts, a case of poisoning proved
before the legal tribunals, and which had been produced
by pieces of sage over which a toad must have passed.
According to Christopher Franc Paulini, a man, while
throwing stones at a large toad, took hold of one which
the reptile had polluted with its venom. His hand swelled
up from the violence of the pain ; it became covered with
phlyctasnm and visicles filled with an ichorous saniss ;
theinflammation extended up the arm, and gave him
the most acute torture for 14 days. At the end of the
three years, and on the exact anniversary of the day
on which he pursued the toad, the disease returned
with all its original symptoms, and the man was cured
only after considerable difficulty. Leeuwenhoek speaks
of an amateur angler, who, being in the habit of baiting
his hook with frogs and toad, one day rec,ivel thy fluid
ejaculated by one of these batracii Upon the surface of
his eye, and in consequence was attacked with acute
ophthalmia. He speaks also of a dog which could not
catch a toad without afterwards falling into paroxysms
of fury and madness. I myself have often seen a fluid
ejaculated by to ids which I have pursued; the stream
was thrown out to a distance of 80 centimetres, it was
of a greenish colour and nauseous odour; but I had
nothing at hand to experiment upon these animals. And
even had we not so many evidences in support of its
nature, analogy alone would point out to us that this
liquid, ejaculated as a means of defence, must be of a
nature similar to that which the viper introduces for the
same object into the flesh of its aggressor.
We must then admit that this venom has a great share
in the production of those cases of poisoning which seem
to depend on some doubtful cause, and which arise after
having eaten without precaution fruits or creeping vege-
tables, and even mushrooms. which, from their general
characters, would be classed among the most inoffensive
itt accidentsht perhaps whic cboeu lrdv.ne or
rt
ebde
t u tracethids
species.t
to any ceri w many
might us e
kind
u p
loafnidnfsetcupti
woyh.haavvenwtaakkeedn fil nw in
any
froomthaeny Pe
sleeplhea't the
on the grass, have probably been indebted
for their ill
ness to this species of accident!

THE Paw TRADE.—There is much talk amongst
scientific persons, and those to whom the welfare of our home
manufactures is of interest, respecting the improvements
recently made in pin making—improvements which have
already caused preparations for closing many large works
upon the continent. The machinery by which the new pin,
to which Mr. Kirby, of Newgate-street, the holder of the
patent, has given the name of the Regina, is made, is of the
most extraordinary character. Strings of wire enter it upon
the one side by 'lnusands, and almost immediately appear at
the other as pins of the most perfect form, literally headed
and pointed to a degree of perfection defying microscopic
power to detect a fault in shape or finish. The sticking of
the pins into paper is likewise completed by the same
machinery, in as incredible a regular and rapid order, and it
is a gratifying fact, that although the latter operation is ac-
complished by this invention, the great demand caused by the
enormous reduction in the price of the pins necessarily calls
together three times the number of female assistants for their
preparation and " making up," &c., at more remunerative
wages than by the old system.

The price of potatoes in Ennis is now 6d. per stone,
and as none are offered that are not diseased, an additional
penny may be added for waste. Oatmeal is 2s. 3d. a stone,
or at the rate of IS/. per ton. The Clare Journal calls on the
Relief Committee of the town at once to make an effort to
reduce the price of provisions, and says they can easily do
so if they please. l'he greatest distress previils, the articles
of food being altogether out of the reach of the tradespeople
and working classes, moat of whom are unemployed. The
same journal also recommends the bakers to introduce house-
hold bread into the shops.—Cork Examiner.
THE MURDER OF MR. MOBBS.—After various re-
mands, the magistrates have decided on committing Sheriff
F and Biddle to Oxford gaol for trial, for the wilful murder of
Mr. Mobbs. The evidence of the accomplice Skerry is
straightforward, and appears very conclusive, and in addi-
tion there are evidence of a circumstantial character strongly
corroborative of Skerrv's evidence. It appears that the pri-
soners murdered Mr. Mobbs because he was watching them ;
that Skerry was near at hand at the time; that he objected
to it; that they robbed Mr. Mobbs after they had beat him
and pulled him of his horse ; that on the following morning
Skerry had ss. of the money; that he was threatened with
death if he split ; and that the affair so preyed on Skerry's
mind that now, at the expiration of about three years, he
" determined ca telling aA he knew."