The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-08-02
UNCLE SANS ODD REPTILES,
THE CHA MONSTER NOT PorsoSous.
ITS KEEPER sAYa

| In 1ts Breath to Prove the Corrset.ss.
or Ris Cl.,m-snakes AZ the s.ithssn,.,
observation-disclosures te Aureps.
WASHINGTON. July 8l.-Thers 10 . popular
| superstition In Arizona that the breath Of the
gils monster is poisonous DR.. stejneger, the
| Curator OF Reptiles At the Smithsonian lnsti.
tuition, evidently docs not think 90. for he held
one OF tho reptiles within three inches Of his
| face few days nKo and inhaled its Kissing
breath as calmly as II he had teen drinking In
a sea breeze. Then he turned the open mouth
Of the reptile toward me. and inhaled good
lungiul OF its breath. Up to this time have
felt no Inconvenience. and I am inclined to
doubt the stories Of this reptiles venom.
| Not only 10 the poisoncusness OF the breath
OF tho gila monster questioned. but thers are
doubts as TO the venom In It's bite. There are
conflicting reports on the subject. and unless
DR.. StejneRer succeeds In disposinG OF thu
question by experimenting with the reptile
lie now has the matter may remain unsettled
DR.. Nit hell OF Philadelphia made expert.
mems with tho poison OF the heloierma. as Il
is scientifically known. tome years ago. and
reported 1t to be extremely poisonous; but D.
Yarrow, the former Curator OF Reptilcs at the
Smithsonian. made a like experiment later
and made q report that the helodermA was
innocent OF any poison. DR.. Yarrows report
being tho latest one, Is the one generally &C.
cepted ly the Smithsonian. tits not generally
endorsed. however. and scientific men are still
divided on the subject.
" The heoderma may b poisonous as q rat
is poisonous" sud Dr.. stejneGer. drawing .
king snake from nm adjacent box and sti okns
its shining back. i was bitten by q rat once
and do not think the bito Of the helodsrms
could be much more serious. There was a
In 80 swelling and there were strong evidences
OF local poisoning. But tho heoderma may
be poisonous In that sense and still not be
venomous like the rat,leSnake We are very
anxious to learn whether 1t 10 venomous or
not II it is. It Is the only one Of the lizards
which has this characteristic"
The heloderma OF the Smithsonian was sent
from Arizona about q month ago BY a hospital
surgeon as voluntary contribution to science.
1t is an extremely interesting specimen hav.
ing broad. fiat body Of salmon pink. notified
with brown. and fiat head Dr. stejneger 10
feeding it on bard boiled eggs Its principal
food is birds eggs. and its principal
occupation robbinR birds nests. DR.,
Stejneger handled the reptile Is easily
as II there wore no doubt OF its being
innocuous. Lifting tho top OF tho box 10
which 1t was shipped to the Smithsonian. he
Grasped it just back Of its head. and. lifting 1t
from its bed OF straw held 1t aoft. 1t struG.
gled little and ran its little forked black
tOuRuo III anu OUT NJ Ebplu Tdt0. OCCASION
ally 1t Kissed. but not in an ugly manner.
1t is a very good-tempered reptile" said
the Doctor. smiling on his pet. 1t ls Q mis-.
take to suppose that venono Gus reptiles are
anxious to do harm. think that a poisonous
snake never bites unless 1t IL attacked or
thinks It ia In danger. Poisonous reptiles are
very conservative OF their venom 1t Is part
OF their stock In trade. ss you may say and
they cannot afford to waste It You would
have to make this little fellow very angry
before lie would bite you. DR.. Mitchell obtained
the venom OF the heloderma for experimental
use by anGering 1t and making 1t bite ct the
edge of a saucer The venom was caught in
the saucer. and he used 1t afterward In hypo.
darmic Injections. That Ia the best way OF
making experiments with reptile poisons. You
can get the effect OF the poison then free from
any other exciting influence. The bite Of the
heloderma alone may be very dangerous, but
by experimenting with its poison hypodsrmi-
cally you can got its effect entirely free from
any injury that the bite might inhict.
by the way" continued the Doctor. there
Is general belief that the heoderma 10 very
slow. This little fellow can move In . very
lively way. as you SEQ" And as he spoke DR..
StejneRer put tho reptile on the floor. 1t began
to scut,le away at a great rate for an opening
under the iron stairway. evidently with view
TO escaping. Tho Doctor put out his foot and
the heloderma ran into 1t head on Then.
before the reptile could make up It's mind that
1t had sufficient provocation for an imme-
diate experiment upon the Doctor 1t was
picked up and dropped into Its box, whereit
was securely fastened In There was humping
heard against the long window at the Other
side of the room. DR.. !SteIneger said that his
to me- that te suTe wa. hs
only reptile allowed to wander at large He
They MAKE very, nice pots. though" he
said. Is suF fpan, hG% quickly they are
him some day and would exam nethem, Just
and vest. he showed me hal, : dozen snakes
eoiled no about ms body: None o: them
lieve in snake charming nor In tax
Ing a ny r s H. with venomons reptiles. BY
der il harm ,ess for IL time nut there are other
teeth behind which are likely to grow out and
Saks 80.
making him slrike at 80 nething and exhauSt-
Ing Ing his venom But 1! is only Temporary W.
snake poison. Even the alcohol in when ven
omous snakes are preserved does not Kill tho
may still bo poisonous. We handle the ven.
om r reptiles with pinecrs.",
;ilos from all pnrts OF the country. They come
agents oi the 1nh @
They send them on in search Of information
about them. There arc DO II $4,000 81 ecieS In
the museum OF the Institute. but Dr.. SteIDsRsr
says that he mover has too many.
There arc 80 many varieties OF ono type OF
snake or lizard" he said. that We like to got
as many specimens a. possible. The luyman
could not tell the difference between certain
species nor perceive that two REPLIES 81 some
what different appearance wcr" orly diierent
varieties OF one species. So ent'c men 30 hos
always agree about the classification OF rep-
tiles nss, For example. there may 10 one
scales scales, when, found east OF the AIleghAnies
which would have twentv'our scales when
found west OF that range. Again. here
are two lizards which seem so diner
ent that you might cas- ly CON" to tho con.
clusion hat they were OF distinct species. iet
when chow YOU these ilfleen or twenty bot
ties containing other lizards OF u common
species. You, see passing from one 10 another;
how We grade up from this variety 10 that X
we did not have these intef mediate Specimens
we would have difficulty proving even ,92 ,p
own satisfaction. that these two were OF lno
same little family. As We are continually
nnding intermedae varieties with lntsi nsnnnf
eAslly hnve too many specimens stnt 70 w ~.