Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-12-18

but all in vain. In India they have, IL is
true, he most deadly Of all snakes, the CO.
bra, and his venom was usually sci 'cted for
with him for insnirips terror. though be
may be second, is certainly the rattlesnake.
The cobra usually kills IN less than an hour.
The keeper who was killed by the cobra IN
London In 1S52 was not bitten I'LL eight in
the morning, and he was deal by nine. or
the rattlesnake, quote from Knights . An
imated Nature" that .'dogs bitten have died
in thirty seconds, aud men, when bitten on
vein, have often died in two minutes Now,
as the serpent poison is blood poiSon-of
which more anon-it is clear that when a
vein is pierced the danger il greater. the pro-
gress more IA pid; Tut never knew Of any
thing In the least resembling this almost in
Simultaneous eeath, and never met with any
There was a fatal case OF rattleSnake bite,
in the neighborhood from which / write,
where n man had shot rabbit, and saw II
drag Itself. though wounded. into hole; he
thrust his hand In TO feel for ~, but touched
a rattlesnake instead. He was bitten at the
bottom OF the palm OF his hand. Just here II
joins the wrists. He died FROM the bite in
about twelve days-the only fatal case 1
know out OF about thirty-anc he was the
Only man out OF thirty who bad surgical al
vice. As rule, doctors would rather not at
tend snake-wounds; they can only rely on
one remedy, which is not rankct 3S drag.
Some fifteen Of the cases referred 10 fell with
In the immediate experience % one friend,
whose pursuits for some years exposed him
and his companions TO the ATTACKS OF these
reptiles; and, although they were I'm wild,
lonely spots, where assistance 81 any kind,
or aid beyond themselves. could not he ob-
tanned. vet, as l have said. none of them
died. The remedy in every case was toe
same. Before mentioning n, / would say
that there must be remedies for all these
bites, remedies not only existent, but known,
or how could the Serpent-chqrners manage
as they dO2 Speaking only fpr myself, /
would say il seems the height OF biCOtry TO
fail back on Incredibly aud prejudice, and
TO suppose that because the eastern nations
have no steam-engiues, no electric tele-
graphs, no iron-clad ships, and the like, that
therefore they cannot handle poisonous
snakes for that is what our logic amounts 10.
The very snake that killed the keeper was
exhibited by a native who came over with it.
But TO my rattlesnake remedy-well. ii is
simply whisky, and IL is specific. II
seems an absolutely certain cure,
and acts at any time after the bite,
SO long as the patient has sense to swallow
il. know OF one case of rattleSnake bite
where four hours elapsed before spirits could
be procured, yet the patient livef. The poi
son of a snake, by some mysterious potency,
causes the blood to coagulate, and, we may
say, putrefy, then the sufferer dies. All rem
edies seem to have failed because they do not
act upon the blood; now, whisky does so act.
y quart of whisky-neat, of course-is about
the quantity usually taken, but the cure is
effected directly the patient gets drunk; so
long as the venom has the mastery, no
amount of whisky will affect the head, but
directly IL is conquered, the patient shows
signs Of intoXication, and is rescued.
i remember one very curious case, where n
woman was gathering Strawberries, and was
crawling along on her hands AMI knees TO do
so, when she was bitten in the lower part Of
the calf Of the leg by a serpent. She saw the
creature. and recognized it as the large yell
low rattlesnake, common In Iowa, one OF
the most dreaded OF the tribe. She was more
than half mile from home, but she did not
lose her presence of mind; she squeezed the
puncture with all her force, and was glad TO
find that greenish drop exuded besides the
blood; then she washed IL well at the brook
made sort of plaster OF clay, and tied IL
on. then walked home. A quart of
whisky was sent for, the greater part
OF which she drank, and she never felt
the slightes: Inconvenience from the bite.
u very strange coincidence IN the way OF
snake bites was that of two brothers, work
Ing on different farms but each bitten by rat
tlesnakes on the same day. One was Injured
close TO his own door: he troi on a snake in
the grass, and was struck in the ankle, a very
small veins there. The other brother was
reaping, or rather binding, and caught hold of
snake, which bit him in the wrist. Both re-
covered, having drunk very largely of whis-
ky; but In their cases was tried, in addition
the older fashioned "chicken-cure." In this
plan the breast of a chicken is cut open,
about skin deep, the feathers being first
plucked of; the cut is just deep enough TO
make blood follow all along the incision and
the cut is held against the snake bite. IL is
asserted that the chicken flesh has a power
of withdrawing the venom, aud, although
the FOWL troops. il seldom dies. Close TO the
place where these men were bitten, a third
man sullSEtu, ne was making hedge
renee and frOd on snake: he was bitten in
the foot, but recovered by the use of whisky
Nearly all snake bites are In the leg or arm
Tor very obvious reasons; horses or cattle are
generally bitten in the jaw, as they disturb
the reptiles by their feeding. A horse, mule
or OK generally dies in one, two or three DAYS.
The Indians dread the serpents very much,
on account OF their so often losing their
horses by them.
The blacksnake abounds in many parts of
America, and grows TO the length OF six or
seven feet. Although not venomous, IL is
very much disliked and dreaded on account
OF its spiteful nature. II will frequently at.
tack children, whom ii has been known to
suffOcate by its folds, after the manner of a
boa constrictor-in this place. blythe by, al
ways termed anaconda" The racer "blue
racer" as IL is called-derives its name from
It's swift and straight progression. 1t does
not wriggle its crooked way through the
dust, but, aided by its hard scales, which
grippe the earth at each of its curves goes di-
rect as a line on its route, and with remark
able speed. The buil-snake is very hand-
somely marked with diamonds of black and
yellow; hence suspect il is the 'diamond
snake" OF some districts. These snakes are
the largest In North America, growing some
times TO the length OF eight or ten feet, and
are very powerful.