The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-12-26
CHAPTER XLVIII.
ANIMAL PoIsoNs.


There is rather mysterious Latin proverb
to the effect that nobody can expect TO walk
among palm trees with impunity." but it's pos
siblo meaning is apt to become clear to any
| traveller approaching the latitude of perennial
| summer IN region OF coast swamps Cherries
and Strawberries at New Year are acceptable
| luXuries, but the products of the insect world
| illustrate the occasional disadvantages of ex-
! uberant fecundty. "There are things that
can reconcile n man to n British fog, SAYS sgd
ney Smith; in the tropics all nature is alive
and seems to be gathering her chronological
| hosts TO eat y0n out of your coat, waist and
breechcs. The beic rouge lays tho foundation of
n tremendous ulcer. In moment you are
| covered with ticks. Chgoes bury themselves
in your flesh aud hatch n colony of young
| chigoes in few hours They will not live
together. but every chigoe sets up n separate
ulcer Flies get entry into your mouth, into
| your eyes, INTO your ears and nose; you cat
fies, drink flies, and breathe flies. Lizards,
eockroaches and snakes get into the bed ants
eat up the books scorpions sting you on the
| foot An insect with II legs is swimming in
your teacup; a nondoscript with nine wings is
struggling in the small beer: caterpillar with
several dozen eyes in his belly Is fastening
over the bread and butter. Every thing bites,
stings or bruises; every second of your exist
encc You are wounded by some piece of animal
llfe that nobody has ever seen before except
States reach far enough sohth to illustrate the
occasional correctness of that description In
Florida venOmous reptiles are frequent enough
| to satisfy any reasonable naturalist We have
TWO varieties OF scorpions, five or six different
species OF hornets, and spider resembling the
Sicilan tarantuln for all business purposes.
have not seen the fens Of the Orinoco, but
have spent several years in southern Mexico.
and know that the mosqnito.swarms of the
1hcatan lagoons are not whit worse than
those OF the Arkansas River bottoms Still
the Winter frosts which now and then pcnc-
trate to the very border-lino of our Southern
territory moderate in some degree the variety
MS well rs the aRgressiveness of our venomous
reptiles aud insects-gnats always excepted.
yENoMous SNAKES
There arc three III fTereut species of venomons
serpcnis In the United States the rattIesnake,
the copporhead and the moccusin-th FIRST and
last with several subdivisions, but none of them
are aggressive IN the sense that word eau be ap-
piled to the combatiyeness of n wasp The rat
tlosnake - one of the most sluggish ophidans,
aud gets its prey by sIealthy approach rather
than after the fashion Of the swift blacksnake
aud there Is perhaps, no instance on record of
any RATHER having used its fangs on "A human
being without previous provocation though an
inadvertent step may be mistaken for an act of
premeditated hostility. serpent coiled up
IN the grass, and Suddenly aroused from its
day-dream by the approach of IL berry gather
ing boy, will strike away at the intruder as a
dog walked from It's siesta-napon a sunny porch
viii snap at an intrusive stranger bnE ia open |
ground the most venomous of snakes will often
try Tor minutes TO evAde their pufsuers by
flight rather than frighten them of by
using their fatal weapons OF defense.
In roadside ditch near Van Buren,, in
southern Missouri. ! once saw gang of
negro boys following n yellow rattlesnake
tCEotalHs dnrireas), aud beating il with bushes
and switches. and though the naked feet OF the
little brats were every now and then in close
proximity TO the head Of the serpent that head
persistcntly turned away from the chance of
revenge and poked about in patient quest of
a loophole OF escape til an old dnrky rushed
up with fence. rail- aud with horrible excera.
tons smashed away Al tho spccklcd reptile
Only then the snake turned on its aggressors.
but was dispatched by n center-hit lust as il
contracted It's coils for spring.
In the headquarters of the Cyoialigs hoYFidus--
Texas, New Mexico and southern Kansas-thero
~ . prevalent impression that some persons are
snake. proof aud met more than ono West
ern hunter who boasted Of having been bitten
by full-si2ed RATHER without having expert
enc@d the slightest serious afterseGeetS. The
probable explanation II the circumstance that
the poison IL occasionally absorbed by the dbers
OF heavy wooien clothing, or that the serpent
had shortly before exhausted its supply of
virus in a combat with another enemy-a pig.
perhaps. hogs having been often seen in the act
OF charging vcnofnous snake with stolid dis
regard OF its repeated saap.bitcs There * no
doubt, though. that serpent poison acts differ
emily on persons of different constitutions.
Nervous individuals. women and timd children
have Ncn known 10 suecumb 10 the effects of
the virus in less than half an hour About
half year ago Atlanta papers mentioned the
case ct little boy who died ia inst 20 min
utes after being bitten in the leg "A little below
the knee. The little fellow the son of d doctor
IN southern Georgia, had been ut play In the
garden. aud slipping of a log happened to step
on rattlesnako, which promptly resented the
aiiront by vicious snap and then slipped of
into u thiCket Of bramblcs aa IL frightened by