St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-11-24
RATrLesNAKe VENOM.

The snake Is seized u short distance
behind the head by means of staff
having at its end q throng Of leather
passing over the end and through q
staple. and this Is frightened or loos-
ened. as occasion may require. by
means Of a string extending up the
handle 1t has been found necessary
not to contine the snakes head too
tightly. as otherwise it can not be in-
duced to strike. The head being So
cured. stick having its end covered
with absorbent cotton is pressed
against the snakes mouth. and II is
leased until sufficiently irritated To
strike its fangs into the cotton. which
receives the venom and Obviates any
danger TO the iangs. as it has been
found In allowing snakes to strike
against saucer the fangs arc
frequently broken of. Generally "A
snake will strike three or four times
very viciously and then relapse into a
sullen apathy. We have in vain cn-
deavored to procure venom from on,
snakes by pressing over the poison
glands, but this has been unsuccessful,
except in one instance. unless thu. snake
was chloroiormed. and il this is done
the reptile generally succumbs within
a few days. This fart Is mentioned. IA
1t has been learned through the public
prints that some experimenters in :.
neighboring city have succeeded in
squeezing out the venom while the
snake was active.
The quantity Of Venom obtained
from different individuals. varies great
ly. From large rather. weighing
perhaps three or four pounds. our first
attempt resulted in securing about
fifteen drops Of venom after the reptile
had struck three times; but if the
process is repeated every day
or two but very small
quantity is obtained. The smaller
snakes give much smaller quantity.
The cotton. after having received it's
charge CT venom, was removed from
the stick and washed out carefully in
glycerine. and by measuring the guam
tity OF this substance first, and then
after the venom had beeu added. We
were able to tell accurately the
strength OF the solution, which con-
sisted Of eight drachms Of chemically
pure glycerine and one drachm Of the
venom. This il the preparation which
was used in all the experiments. and il
is called glyccrine-venom. One fact
should be stated as bearing upon tho
popular belief that snakes, if kept
from water. are not poisonous. 1t was
found that by keeping the rattlers
without water for week or two,
the quantity OF venom was materially
smaller than when we allowed them
free access to water. and that the
color of the venom. which was
yellOwish green when no fluid was sup
piled. became much lighter In color
when they had freely drunken. We
have never been able to induce our
rattlesnakes TO cat, although they have
been tempted with variety of food,
but water they consume largely.
When the present supply Of rattlers
was first received it was a very easy
matter to grasp any one Of them be-
hind the neck with snake-staff. but
has taught them that they
must do something against their will.
and now it is quite difficult to secure
them. and even when secured it is
to make them strike: in fact,
one specimen is now SO tame that it
may be handled with impunity. and it
IL the writer's belief that a ra,tler. if
carefully and tenderly handled. will
not bite the hand that grasps it. Ii is
believed the Moqui Indians are aware
Of this. and it enables them to handle
with impunity the venOmous snakes
used in their fearful dance, SO well de-
scribed by Captain John &. Bourke. u.
5. A. Many persons suppose that the
fangs Of a RATHER once removed the
reptile is harmless for all time, or that
at least a year is required to replace
The fangs. This is an error. for the
writer has in his possession RATHER
In which the fangs We're twice replaced
after an interval of three weeks only.
A. the RATHER doubtless knows when
The contents Of the poison gland Is cx-
as is evidenced by his refusal
10 bite after two or three efforts. he
probably also knows that il is useless
20 show fight when the fangs have
been removed, and this has been
tried on one OF our snakes.
She continues to coil and rattle. but,
M matter how much leased and irri-
lated. makes no attempt to bite.
An interesting fact has been noticed
important Ia record. II is that the ra:- |
Ter does no, invariably use both iangs
N striking, the muscular movement, of !
either side of the jaw being quite iu- p,
dependent Of the other. and quite ut !
he will of the reptile. The practical
soaring Of this point is that occasions
lily In snake bite bat one puncturo |
viii be found, and some doubt may cx- |
ii il ihi, was really due TO the ,cr-
,en;'s fangs or not. Another point of !
interest lies in the fact that If only one /
;ng is plunged into the TISSUES. the .
'atient will not have received so large /
dose Of the venom us il both teeth /
lad been used, and u more favorable
rogno,is can be made.
Nationality Of Prize-Fighters.