Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-02-21
TALES FROM THE COAST.
Some Which ara Very Strange and More
or Less True.
A Sure spscihc for Snake Bites-MummiHod
in the Open Air-California is Full Of the
Unique in Nature; Even Liars.

in the Open Air-California is Full Of the
Unique in Nature; Even Liars.
Hereafter. says the Los Angeles
correspondent of the New York
Tribune. when camping-out parties are
formed the demijohn full of snake bite
cure will have to be replaced by a
bundle of weeds, for L. X. Fisher. an
old citizen of Santa Barbara who Ia
familiar with the habits OF the Cali
fornia Indians, claims to have found
out their remedy for rattlesnake bites,
which is species OF the plant euphor-
bia. DIR. S. Weir Mitchell, of Phila-
delphia, recently stated in an article.
which has been copied by the Cali
fornia press. that no specific was
known for the virus OF the rattlesnake-
Mr.. Fisher saw this statement and con-
tradicted it, saying that the plant
referred TO was u sure cure; he even
| goes SO far as to state that the
snakes themselves, when bitten will
make use OF the remedy. This receives
corroporation from Frank Smith, who
| lives in San Bernardino county, on
the edge of the desert. He speaks
most OF the Indian dialects. The
weed, he says, is euphorbia, and Is
common through California and Ari-
IONA. 1t is vine-like plant, radiat-
ing from center, growing close to
| the earth; the leaf resembles the
clover. but is less than half as large.
| When a stem is broken a milky ex-
udation follows similar to that OF the
"mllkweed" OF the East. Mr.. Smith
gives this as the method OF applica-
ton: The green weed should be
macerated in water, the skin about tho
bite scarilied and the pulpy mass Of
the plant placed on it and rubbed we'll
into it; this should be repeated at in
| tervals for fifteen or twenty minutes,
and then poultice of the same plant
should be bound on and left. Mr..
! Smith holds that within forty-eight
hours all symptoms OF poison will dis
appear. So confident is he that in the
Banning Herald be offers to settle the
discussion with DR.. Mitchell in
western style by Offering TO bet $500 or
$1,000 that with the euphorbia he can
cure any case OF rattlesnake bite, and
he will allow DR.. Weir TO pick out his
own snake. The Mexic ms know tho
weed, and call it golondrino.
Southern California owes, perhaps,
the major portion of its prosperity,
directly and indirectly, to consump-
tives, though the influence OF climate
on the disease is still an unsettled
| question among the doctors. The
State Board of Health of California,
in its report for September, speaks
dlspargingly OF the possibility OF the
cure of the disease by climate in any
of its stages. This has drawn forth
rejoinder from DIR. King. a reputable
physician, who live sat Banning, in this
state. Banning is situated on the
verge of the Colorado desert, in San
Bernardino county, at very high alti-
tude, and has the reputation of being
a most desirable place OF residence for
persons afflicted with tuberculosi. DR..
King has kept record of 200 cases OF
| this disease which he has treated at
Banning. Many he states, came to him
in the last stages OF the sickness, but
TO avoid the imputation of selecting
favorable cases only, he made no ex-
ceptions. All the cases were advanced
beyond the first stage. The most ad-
vanced, he admits, nearly all ended
fatally. OF the 200 treated by MIN
seventy-eight have been pronounced
cured, forty-eight have made progress
toward recovery, fifty-nine have died,
six have become worse and eight have
shown no change so far
There has been said regarding CAL
ifornia's climate about all that can be
said, including the claim that people
do not die, but dry up and blow away.
A case OF recent occurrence illustrates
the fact that, though people do die, it
is possible for them to dry up after
ward and become so light that they
might be borne away by good wind.
+. +. Singletary was bright young
lawyer. formerly OF Los Angeles, who
became excited when the lower CAL
ilornia gold-mining craze broke out
about year ago, and started for the
Santa Clara diggings. He attempted
to cross the Colorado desert in COM
pany with two companions. The party
became panic-striclen at the heat and
suffering they had to endure, and poor
Singletary was deserted by his COM
RAIDS. and though they managed TO
reach water in safety, nothing was
heard of Sngletary until lew days
ago, though his Disappearance occur
red in June, Last week two miners
arrived in San Diego from the Coco
pah mining district They had cross
cd the desert at the same point that
Singletary's party had travelled it
About mile and half from water
they saw body lying on the ground,
and on reaching it it was discovered TO
be the body of the young lawyer as
completely mummified by the desert
air as If it had just been dug out of an
Egyptian tomb.
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