The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1874-07-22
THAT SNAKE STORY.

NATION OF THE REMARKABLE CASE
REPORTED By DIR. JOHNSON, AND A
FEW POINTED QUESTIONS PUT By A
STUDENT OF NATURAL HISTORY.
THORN HILL, Tenn. July 10, 1874.
To the Editor or the AIorristown Gazette
In your Issue of the 8th inst.
find an article from Murraysville,
Tenn, which, if dared, / would dis
believe. But as the assertion is made
by DIR. Eli johnson, and since the
Doctor mentions the names and
gives the residence of the physicians
and surgeons operating; also the
name Of the keeper Of the snake
skins, being. SO explicit as to give
even the streets and corners, so that
evidence, as to the verify of tho as
sertion, may be procured. (if any
were neededl readily in even so
densely populated a place as the
county site of Cooke county,
Hence, of course, no one can doubt.
But there are several things con-
nected with this snake story that
seem a little strange, relative to
which some of your readers would
like information. For instance, your
correspondent states that Mrs. Ken
nedy had been in the hospital, in the
county site of Cooke, unfortunately
he omits the name of the street on.
which the hospital is located(, and
had been treated successfully for can
Ger of the bowels, worms, &c, bat
foatad no relief" Most persons are
in the habit of thinking that il a pa.
tient is treated successfully relief
is procured.
Did the operating surgeon remove.
from the abdomen ofthis patient the
entire tumor, and then open it? or
did he simply open the tumor and
remove thence the two rattle snakes,
and close the wound again over the
then empty sack? BE jabers do
they eat eggs without cooking. and
witk the Sheltoain swate Ireland p
If so, and DR., Eli Johnson's theory
be correct. would think some of
them would have tremendous cack-
ling and scratching in their inards.'
But if Mrs. Kennedy did swallow
the two small soft white eggs"
whole in the shell, of what are these
eggs of the rattlesnake composed?
Have they not. like the generality
of eggs. a shell or tesla, a white or
albunten, and a yelk or gttellus !?
The only reason why the shells are
soft is owing, [ guess, to deficiency
of lime and magnesia thus leaving
a redundancy of animal matter in
the shell. The shell of all kinds of
eggs, is partially soluble in the acids
of the stomach and partially digesti-
BILE. The albuminous portion Of the
egg will coagulate either by con-
tact with the acids of the stomach
or by the elevated temperature to
which they would be subjected with
in the body. While the yifellus
with its nucleus and muculeous
are wholly and easily digestible,
and every matron in the land knows
that an added egg won't hatch.
If the eggs had been in her stomach
and not dlgested would they not
have passed thence through the
pylorus aud been forced along by the
peristaltic action of the bowels until
they were excreted long before the
warmth of the body would have
hatched them? But grant the infer
ence that none Of these effects had
been produced and that the eggs had
been Matched producing the bona tde
young " crotalus horridus, if. they
entered the bowels, how did they
get out into this tumor2 DIR. Eli John
son should be fraction more explicit,
e'er he puts our faith to so hard a
test, and tell us where and to what
this tHmor was attached, or was it
like the. drunk mans sweet milk,
"laying around loose 2" OF what
kind of tissue was it composed? Did
it contain any fluid il SO, of what
kind 2-or was it full Of their snake
ships? If so, on what did they sub
sist? QURsIroR-