The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-07-25
THE HoRRIBLB CHA MONSTER.
The Pleasant Companion One May
Encounter in Arizona.
From the Los AngleS Tribune,


SIS he poisonous!7 said young man be-
hind the newspaper stand at the Nadeau.
| "Well, | should say he was 1t isn't his
breath, though. A man from Arizona said
the forked tongue was the sting" You're
| wrong said listener Its breath is what
kills people. heard a woman say that a
single blast of its breath was sure death"
THAT may be-" said another, "but | saw
| a man die from the bite of one, and that is
the secret OF it. I'd rather have a rattler
| bite me any day."
where was it" queried a startled
listener.
lover in Arizona" was the reply. "a
| friend Of mine had one in a box Just out
side of a saloon, and one day chap came
along who was SO drunk thai he was ready
TO eat up the earth. He was afraid of moth
! ing, and when he saw the box and the sign.
| Hands off-poisonous, he swore he could
handle it, and before they could prevent
| him he had ripped off the Stats and made a
| grab at it, The thing twisted around and
| bit him on the finger, and, to make a long
! story short, l saw him die in the middle of
the street short time after"
The subject of all this conversation was
pale yellowand-b blunt-headed lizard,
about foot in length, that rested upon a
bed of sand in a small wooden box. 1t was
the famous ella monster of Arizona, the
only poisonous liza in the world, and as
ugly and disagreeable looking creature as
one could possibly imagine
| The head was long and blunt, the eyes
black and bead-like the tail half the length
| of the body, thick-set and cluo-like. 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 contigu-
GUS to the ella river. In confinement it has
the habits of a 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 lizard,
| and the only one known that can poison
J other animals by its bite-a 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 proper
ties were soon demonstrated A naturalist
at the Smithsonian was bitten, the poison
taking effect so qnickly that he had barely
|
died after being bitten, and it was shown
that human beings, under certain condi-
tions, might easily die from the effects of
the bite
The poison of the heloderma has been
carefully examined by Messrs. Mitchell and
Reichert, the experts, who announce that
the physiological action of the poison is en-
tirely different from that of snakes. The
] latter DESTROYS life by paralyzing the re-
spiratory center, while the poison of the
heloderma at once attacks and affects the
heart, paralyzing 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 cord finally becoming
paralyzed.
1t is probabls that the condition of the
victim or his general health would have
much to do with the question Of death. If
a man was in poor condition and run down
he would possibly die, while healthy man
would not be seriously troubled.
Specimens sent to Europe were expert
mented upon by Sir John Lubbock. A frog
bitten by the lizard died in a few seconds in
| commissions A guinea pig bitten in the
hind leg passed away in three minutes, and
other animals died equally as quick,
creating in the minds of the observers a
decided respect. If the teeth of the speci-
| men at the Nadeau house are examined they
will be found to have curious assures, aud a
further and closer look into the mouth of
the monster will show at the base of the
grooves small dents from which the poison
GUS saliva flows. The heloderma is an IL
teresting creature. and while not always
sure death, it is well TO keep it at a distance
and handle it with the care and respect due
| its unsavOry reputation.