The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-02-27
MplA's DEADLY SNAKES.
where There ars coo co1-as 60 In,
square Mile.

year the amount 81 IeNafttS psfla ler tGe
destruction of wild beasts and venemous
snakes ia British India Was %. $50 ra-
PEGS s 5 far as regards the destruction
Of wild Oeasts, the money WAS, no doubt,
well spsiI though the rewards are some
times toe easily earned. We have, for
instance, Heard of young wolf, which
had been brought up denlesticaily until !
il was IS tame as iaayfs iapdog, fall
ing victim to = greedy servant in the
cook room for tie sake - the head mon
ey But after all, wolves are not verg
pleasant peis, and there can be lIii.e /
doubt that the offer of rewards for tie
destruction OF realiS. dangerous aniunais
is in the main useful Tempted by this, |
the village sAikarce. though he may have 1
no baby of his own, viii sit up for the
wolf that prowls about the precincts of /
the village at night tairsting for infants /
blood
In reality only three species Of snakes /
dangerous To human life aye to be met I
with in the Bombay presidency, IL, the {
cham viper and 4 small black snake, +
banded with white, which is known TO /
naturalistsa as BuagarHS GreIs9tds. There /
is another prettily marked little viper, (
which IS common enough, but as 1t Is /
barely a foot in length, lis bite Is very
rarely fatal. To these popular Anglo-In-
dian tradition adds several most deadly |
/
( the eye SpalSe, etc. The last owes Its 7,
name, according 70 DR.. E Nicholson, 10
an idea prevalent among otherwise sane
| Engiishmen, that il Is IN the habit Of
hanging by the tail from branch of a
| tree, for the purpose ofhating passers-by
/ in the eye. Ofthe threcspecies, mention
/ ed above the btagdras is very molten
siYe, and not common, while the chain
viper is extremely lazy, and generally
] =.
I furiously when any one approaches, so
that accidents from these two species arc
| probably rare.
The cobra, on the otherhand, is one Of
| the commonest snakes in India, as il is
one of the most fatal in the world. DIR.
Nicholson, who was appointed IN 1873
to superintend the distribution of the re-
| wards III Banglalore, estimates the cobra
population Of that region AT / 900 per
square mile. This calculation, If cor
rect, viii perhaps serve equally for any
station in the Deccan, as, for instance,
Poona, where the cobra finds both board
aad lodging on easy terms in the holes OF
the field rats, aud probably does maa
more service in q year than ali the mis-
chief il does him IN a century. Through
out Bombay Itself the cobra SWaTnls, es-
peciaily on places like Malabar hill and
CIImbaila Hill and P2rel. That the co
y
its extremely timid agd wary disposi-
ton. But snakes indeed shua man far
more than man shaHs them. Their first
impulse OF herring his dreaded footsteps
is to run, and among Europeans who
wear boots the possibility Of being bit
tea is small.
Natives, walking noiselessly, with
bare feet, are, Of course, much moe
liable TO accidents, yet the statistics
which we have already referred TO give
the total number Of persons killed by
veaom0us snakes during the year 1878
at 1882 OF less than enc in 10000 OF
the population. And i Is not unlikely
that we should be nearer the truth II we
: cut down that num5sr by halt, not only
because snake bite has been since the
: DAYS of Hamiet's father, ! most conveil-
lent explanation Of doubtful deaths, but
because in hundreds of cases, where the
bite of the snake wcG.d not suffice 10
+ kill the man, uative !uCtL0i.s o. cure COM
! piete the wuTn and put an end TO his
life.
y correspondent, IN calling attention
! 10 the danger, sends Us al example very
p much 10 the point that came - his owl
I notice. i strong young MussuiiiiUn, 81
p energetic and vigorous man, WAS turn
: ing ovcr some rubbish when 4 speckietl
I snake two feet long bit him above
!, | tie ankle No one else saw the
| creature. lie himself ia not step tn
look at IL but rdsiei heud.oag homo,
implored his friends to look after his
children, and rolled over on the floor
In few moments the whole neigiib9r
5 hood had gathered together, determined
l. not 10 let him perish without an attempt
/ II rescue. 4 dozen chickens were II
a once procured, and the remedy was pat
/ into vigorous operation. Ii Is, by The
= way, one OF the commOnest native spe-
c cities. Then some jungle men passing
n by were called in. They were practical
men, and at once sucked the wound
l. They sucked and chewed the man in hall
It a dozen other places besides, but this
r. might have been designed TO act On his
a faith and cheer him up, and by ibis time
It he needed cheering. Next some local sa
I wants suggested that the poison should
:. be got oat Of thc mans stomach, and q
d good handful of salt was given him, with
It AN immediate result. After this a dccoc
re ton of H1eem leaves was administered
o both internally and externally, plenty oi
il being rubbed On the top OF his head
IS Some other decoctiOn was smeared under
Il the root of his tongue. Two men vel
n yersed in charms then came on the scene
It and cutting some twigs from tree Of
l. very great potency in such cases, bella
D. bored tue man for an hour or two over
il the head and face, muttering the charm;
n the while
:, All this was, we arc told, only the be
q ginning of SORROWS. For four or five
d hours, the wrctched man was piled witt
he drugs and decociions aild charms, every
newcomer putting some fresh abomina
ton down lis throat At the cad of tina
time he Was quite sensible, and not
Re symptom of snake poison had shown
ii. itself. There WIS no pain in the bitter
~ part, nor any swelling, as far rs could bt
or ascertainel, considering how the place
= had been plastered and biistercd aGC
4 bandaged. Two or three hours later
,e however, some fresh dose, prescribed b,
b. a new arrival, gave the corp de gracl
Y. The man succumbed, became insensible
a. and soon died. There was government
Y dispensary in the neighborhood, with al
a apothccary in charge, but no one eve
at lreamt of sending for Kim until it wa
e too late ia this case there was not
n. particle Of evidence TO show that th
al snake was poisonous, and in ali probs
re biiity the man was cured 10 death Tn
N victim was unfortunately popular maj
~ and much respected, and had he hai
is fewer friends he might have been pei
is mitted TO recover. If the hlame-of hal
M the snake bite cases in the government
I'd returns is laid 10 the snake account tn
Nd reptile has probably lEd its due, and a
or ter all the annual returns give one deaf