Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-09-02
SOME FEARFUL SECONDS.
chambers Magazine. ]

1
forescence about her lips knew that she
was sering from carries Of the Jaw with
| liberation OF the mucous membrane, so
fatal to snakes in confinement, and having
| pointed this cut to NJ. Vekenann, the res.
| ident doctor, | obtained his permission to
make trial of an ointment which | be.
| lieved l had found efficacious in the early
| stage of the disease among my own snakes.
The four reptile dens IN the iion.house at
Antwerp are not so com nodious as those
| in the London Gardens, notably in the ab-
| sence Of proper tanks, but are extremely
pretty lots Of artificial, rock-wurk franz
ing large mirror at the back, which has
very natural effect; so that what the
Door snakes lack in water they make up
for in looking. glass. | came on the follow
ing morning, armed with my ointment !;
but the lady had betsken herself into a
crevice Of the rocks, where one could
scarcely catch sight OF her. There were
other pythons in the cage, some of them
1earIy twenty feet long, some not more
tlan five or Elk but though they
projected their heads and commenced
to hiss, they did not attempts 10 attack /;
and the keeper-an intelligent man, who
spoke French-said they would not come
at US if we did not touch them. a little
one jumped harmlessly at my leg as |
s!epued over him For three days the
pythoness remained in her rocky retreat
but on the fourth | caught sight of her az
the very top of the cage, and at opce
climbed uD and brought her down. The
poo, things mouth was in worse state
than | had anticipated. she came down
qaietly enough. and though nervous, was
not spiteful, and allowed me to ba, die her
NV, az ililuck would have it, the regu.
lar keeper was absent on this particular
morning, and his place was filled for the
time by another from some other part of
the gardens, who spoke nothing but Elem
ish Of which tongue | am as profoundly
ignorant az he most certainly WAS of the
creatures under MS temporary charge. |
went into the den with him, taking it for
granted, of course. that he was accustomed
to snakes, and gave him the box of ointment
10 hold until was ready TO it. When /
mad brought the pVthones fairly down to
the floor, [ gripped her hard by the Dt OK.
which had the effect-as | intended 1t to
have, and as it always has with Snakes
Of making her open her mouth. pressed
her head away from me at the same time
to prevent her catching hold OF any part
of my clothing, in her effort to bite. In
her fright aud rage she drew her body up
across my back, and twisted her tail
nov required of the keeper was, by
teasing or pinching her here and
there, or by unwinding the tail
when necessary, to cause her to shift
her coils constantly, and prevent her rest
ing long enough on one spot TO apply undue
pressure. My face could protect for my
self with the left hand. This I concluded
he understood, as matter of course.
turned round to make sign to him to be
ready and give to me the ointment, when.
judge of my dismsy as l caught sight of
his stolid face, with sort OF dull impair
tial interest on it, looking at me through
the glass in front, and the door closed on
the outside He had got frightened by the
noiseof the other pythonss, and had quietly
gone out sgain.
| was about to make an impatient ges-
ture, when in that instant the serpent
frightened on me so suddenly and violently
that l momentarily Lust consciousness.
then found myself staggering about the
den, fighting for life. l expected TO feel my
ribs give way every moment, yet my CHI ef
fear at the time was of falling through the
glass. | pushed the reptiles head away
from me with all my might, lest it should
cross my breast, and 1 can remember
catching sight of myself, a mulberry
colored figure, in the mirror. knew, too,
that l was trampling about over the
other pythons, who, furious at the
disturbance, were now dartiug about
the den above and all around me in every
and / exerted every energy to
keep my feet, for L mad presence of mind
enough left to know that if | went down it
would be all over with me. The heat was
sitting. l could bear it no longer; the
cage spun madly round and round before
my eyes, and everything seemed TO flame
and roar. let go the head. The snake
twisted sharply back over my right
shoulder close to my face, but did no5
bite me, and slid off on the ground.
| just recolIect falling against the door
with outstretched hands, but nothing
more until l found myself sitting on
the steps outside, coughing violently, while
the phlegmatic keeper was putting hot
key down my back, for some occult reason.
[ brought mp little blood, and drank lit
tie brandy, after which 1 soon got better
but | was not well enough to walk home,
and the bruiss in my side did not fade for
many day. l suppose the whole affair
did not last more than few seconds, but
l found itquite long enough. Fortunately
the snake had only small part of her body
across my left side and hack had she en-
circled me with a whole coil, should have
been crushed like ca egg-ahell.
Curl )usly enough, my left arm was quite
parasyzsd, and did not fully recover tae
use OF it for a week. did not know it at
the time. but she must have pressed her
tail under my arrnp:t, and so compressed
the nerves. The accident was one of the
stupidest and most preventable in the
world, and was entirely owing to my tax
ing the wrong man into the cage to assist
me. | may add that | went in some days
later with the proper keeper, and per-
formed the operation, not only without
danger, but without the least difficulty.
That serpents may be discriminativelY
afiectionate towards individuals, beyond the
mere instructive absence of fear, everyone
VITO has kept them must know To those
who have not, should be happy boallow
my own pets to prove their case. Can ANA Ike
have sufficient intelligence to be sious {?
Jealousy ig perhaps the nearest approach
to rational attribute, showing come men,
tai process of logical inference or deduc-
tion, which animals eyince. I don't press
the point, but merely give the facs that
Totsey, my boa, one of the gent-es. and
best tempered of snakes, who lives in a
cage in perfect peace with two pythons, an
anaconda, a rat-snake, wasp snake and
several Others, will invariably bite them,
il l take them up when she is on my shout
der.
ATMOSPHERIC DUsr.-Every Que is aware
that the atmosphere holds quantities Of
nnst In an sten SION The d1,at hntrar-n itn