Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-06-14
THEIR BITE MEANS DEATH, s.
Some Curious Facts About Venomous
Snakes and Their Killing Ways.

! DIE hE<ANS
Some Curious Facts About Venomous
| Snakes and Their Killing Ways.
| n HOU hear it said that the venom of
| w one snake is so much more apt to be
fatal than that of another" re-
marked a traveller from the far
- east to a STAR reporter, "but the
fact has been scientifically demonstrated that
| the poison Of all dangerous serpents is prac-
tically the same thing. chemically speaking.
IL one kind OF serpent is more deadly than
another the reason is simply that it secretes a
greater quantity of venom. Take, for instance,
the rattlesnake, which ordinarily is by no
means so fatal to human life as is commonly
supposed. When you find it in the Painted
Desert of Arizona, where the sun burns with
such intensity as to rapidly engender
everything in the way of poison APP
| parently, the RATHER is most
| perilous creature to encounter In proportion
| as the climate becomes more torrid the bite OF
| this creature is more to be dreaded. Any
negro OF the semi-tropics will tell you that the
| cotton-mouth moccasin is worse than rattle
| snake. In fact, the moccasin is most to be
| feared of all the snakes found on this CONT
nent. 1t has most unpleasant expression when
| 1T opens its mouth, the inside of which resem-
bles In appearance a soiled kid glove and its
| nip Is almost sure death every time. And vet
the venom of moccasin and rattlesnake are
| found by the chemist to be constituted pre-
cise1y alike. and the microscope is not able to
detect any difference between the two.
IN INDIA.
| GAS for the cobra-cobra Iii capella of India
| the hooded or specialized COBRA which is
the most deadly Of all the snakes in the world,
| such thing as the cure of a person bitten bv
! 1t has hardly been known fbOuUb ha
OF India have given some pretty fair evidence
| OF possessing some secret means of treatment
that Ii now and then successful. Certainly no
| effective antidote has been discovered by
science. Not less than 20 900 persons are killed
annually in India by snakes-most of them by
c0bras The poison of this serpent is about the
same as that of the rattlesnake. but the reptile
is larger and has much bigger store of venom
NoXt to the cobra in point of deadliness so far
as the snakes of India concerned, is the
KRAFT. But the cobra di capela is the terror
par excellence. 1t looks more like the devil
than one can we'll describe as it erects its
hood and gazes through the spectacles'
marked clearly around its eyes in angry antlci-
patton or making an attack. The snake
charmers OF India, however, do not hesitate
to make use of full grown cobras for
exhibition purposes, and they by no means
always take the precaution to remove their
iangs. know this with certainty, because l
had the misfortune 10 witness a very painful
tragedy on one occasion at village few miles
from Benares. An itinerant juggler was charm
Ing snake for the amusement of an eager
crowd; making the reptile writhe in graceful
convoiutions responsiveiy to the soft notes Of
a reed pipe. 1t was cobra of the largest size
over four feet long, l should think-and a
very wlcked-iooking one at that. Something
angered the serpent. and before any one real
lied what had happened it had sprung at a
little boy about nine years old who was
squatted on the ground, fastening upon his
arm. The juggler quickly killed the snake,
but the victim died within fifteen minutes
though ligatures were Immediately applied
above the wounded part so as to prevent the
poison from circulating"
ACTION OF THE POISON.
"Hoy does the snake poison act?"
at has the effect of paralyzing the nerve
centers in way that is not very well under
stood; but its most important action is effected
by the introduction into the veins of certain
germs which develop Immediately into cells.
these cells reproducing themselves with such
rapidity that In an incredibly short space OF
time there will be billions and billions of them
mingled with the blood. Now, the cells feed
upon the hbrine in the blood and thus destroy
its consistency, so that the vital fluid of a per-
son far gone with snake bite will not coagulate
and 10 entirely fluid. The red corpuscles are
destroyed and the blood turns black because
OF the consumption by the germ cells of the
oxygen which gives the blood its redness.
Thus comes on coldness sleepiness and finally
death. No antidote for snake poison has ever
been discovered by science, though aboriginal
people in various parts of the world claim
knowledge Of various vegetable remedies, 1t
ID popularity supposed that whisky ia an anti
dote. but such is not at all the fact. The i'm
portant point In treating person bitten by
snake Is to keep up the vitality for q while
until the first shock to the nervous sys-
tenn has passed. This may be accomplished
artifcially by large doses Of alcohol But it is
not an antidote; men have been known to die
who were bitten when dead drunk. Curiousiy
enough the most venomous serpents are not
poisoned by each others bites, though about
all other living creatures succumb to their
venom, even fish. 1t is said that the mon
goose, which is one Of the greatest enemies of
the cobra, kraft and other deadly snakes of
India. will engage in combat with it's serpent
adversary and if wounded, will 60 and eat Of
vegetable antidote known to itself, subse-
quently returning to the attack. Certain
species of cranes also are death on yenomous
snakes and think nothing of swallowing four
foot cobra for breakfast. The mongoose, It
must be understood, is not bird but an ami
NAL of the lemur tribe. Natives in India re-
gard the cobra with a sort of superstitious awe
ant thing about the reptile is the way it has Of
seeking human habitations for its abode
more particularly gardens and snug hooks be-
meath verandas."
where does the cobra conceal its poison?"
SIN two little sacs at the base Of its fangs on
venomous serpents. For convenience In biting |
the fang is hollow tooth, and, when the rep
tile strikes, the poison is elected through It.
The venomous substance, when dried, will last
for an indefinite period and will preserve its |
deadly properties. 1t has been surmised that
the poison OF q wasp or bee is of as intense a |
vrulence as that OF the cobra, inasmuch as SO
small quantity Of veA,om as one Of the insects
is armed with can produce such painful results |
When you get up to such giant snakes as the
boaconstrictor and python, which often attain
a length Of thirty feet or more and bulk In pro-
portion, there is no need for an equipment of
poison glands, the power of crushing and rend- |
ing with the teeth being relied upon for pur-
poses Of combat and the securing Of food"
A Parsons Private Secretary.
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
1t has often been exploited in print how use
full the smooth and accomplished Dan Lamont
made himself to ex-President Cleveland during
his residence in the White House. In the Rev.
D. J. Burreu and his faithful factotum, L. B.
Williams, Minneapolis has even as remarkable |
an example of this usefulness in all the details
Of Office to which the subordinate can at |
tain. without his efficient assistant Dr. Burrell
would be as Q chip without rudder 1t il he |
who parcels out tho pastors duties, keeps tab |
ON all thu reouiremeuta Of the week And re-. |