The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-05-25
low THE e1LA MONSTER KILLS.
some Experiments with the Poison
of This Venomous LIZARD.

From the Los angeles Tribune.
is he poisonousW said young man be-
hind the newspaper stand at the Nadeau.
swell, l should say he was. 1t isn't his
breath, though. A man from Arizona
said that the forked tongue was the sting.n
You're wrong" said a listener; Its
breath is what kills people. | heard a
woman say that single blast of its breath
was sure DEATH
THAT may be-" said another; shut saw
man die from tie bite of one, and that is
the secret of it. I'd rather have RATHER
bite me any day.
'Wnere was it!" quiered startled lis
tener.
"Over in Arizona was the reply. "a
friend of mine had one in a box just out
side of saloon, and one day chap came
along who was so drunk that he was ready
to eat up the earth. He was afraid of
nothing, and when he saw the box and the
sign, Hands Off-Poisonous he swore he
could handle it, and before they could pre-
vent him he ripped off the Stats and made a
grab at it. The thing twisted around and
bit him on the finger. and, to make long
story short, saw him die in the middle of
the street a short time after"
The subject of all this conversation was
pale yellow and black, blunt-headed lizard.
about foot in length, that rested upon a
bed of sand in a small wooden box. 1t was
the famous Gila monster of Arizona, the
only poisonous lizard in the world, and as
ugly and disagreeable looking creature as
one could imagine.
The head was long and blunt, the eyes
black and bead-iike, the tail half the length
of the body, thickset and club-lilze. The
entire body seemed encased in a thinly
coated armor, marked curiously with yellow
and black.
The ella monster is sluggish and slow of
movement, in this respect being entirely
different from the tribe in general In its
own country the animal shows more
activity, especially in the dry, hot regions
contiguous to the ella river. In confine-
ment it has the habits of young alligator
more than anything else. The interest
which centers in the heloderma lies in the
poison that is supposed to Turk in its bite,
and perhaps no animal has given rise to SO
many weird and wholly imaginary stories.
The natives and some Ignorant whites
suppose that its breath is poisonous. Others
think that to have one touch the body is a
bad sign. The heloderma is simply a lizard
and the only one known that can poison
other animals by its bite; discovery made
a few years ago by some naturalsts who
were travelling through the country. The
story was not at first believed, but several
were sent east. where the poisonous prop
critics were soon demonstrated. A natural
ist at the Smithsonian was bitten, the
poison taking effect so quickly that he had
barely time to call for help. Small animals
soon died after being bitten, and it was
shown that human beings, under certain
conditions, might easily die from the effects
of the bite.
carefully examined by Messrs. Mitchell and
Reichert the experts, who announce that
the physiological action of the poison is
entirely different from that of snakes. The
latter destroys life by paralyzing the respi-
ratory center, while The poison of the heo-
derma at once attacks and affects the
heart, paralZipg it.
Among the interesting experiments that
of injecting the poison simultaneously has
been tried. There was no local effect, the
heart being at once affected, slowly con-
tracing, the spinal card finally becoming
paralyzed.
1t is probable that the condition of the
victim or his general health would have
much to do with the question of death. If
q man was in a poor condition and run
down he would possibly die, while a healthy
man would not lie seriously troubled.
Specimens sent to Europe were expert
mented upon by Sir John Lubbock. A frog
bitten by the lizard died in few seconds in
commissions. A guinea pig bitten in the
hind leg passed away in three minutes, and
other animals died equally as quick. Great
ing in the minds Of the observers decided
respect. If the teeth of the specimen at the
Nadeau house are examined they will be
found to have curious assures, and further
and closer look into the mouth of the mon
ster will show at the base of the grooves
small dents from which the poisonous saliva
flows. The heloderma is an interesting
creature, and while always not sure death,
it is well to keep it at distance and handle
it with the care and respect due its unsavory
reputation.