, 1891-06-24
BITTEN BY A LIZARD.
Bill TN bI A LlZARU.
A Snake Charmer's Experience
With a ella Monster.
Experiments Made With the
Poison of the Reptile.
Its Bite Worse Than That of
the Rattlesnake.

NEW 1ORk, June 23.-lhC chlei
"snake-charmer' of Huber's Fourteenth
Street Museum is John Soneli, a German,
30 years old, who lives at POO Fast Ninety.
eighth street with his wife, Donatus, who
Is engaged in a similar capacitya at Worth
museum, DIR. c. Slower Allen, of q
East Twenty-eiGhth street, is engaged ia
experimenting with poisonous snakes and
other reptiles, and for this purpose has q
laboratory on Fourth avenue, near Seven.
ty sixth street, where SonelI takes care of
the snakes for him. This afternoon about
l O'Clock the snake-charmer brought to
the laboratory what he declares was a
Gila munster, the ugly New Mexican
lizard, the bite of which. some authorities
say, is atrociously poisonous, while other
authorities instance cases IN which the
bite did no harm.
In transferring the lizard from the
basket IN which he carried it to a box
Sonell lifted it by the tail. He turned his
eyes IN another direction for a moment.
and the lizard, which is about is inches
long, turned and fastened its teeth in the
middle finger Of Sonelps left hand.
Sonell was alone in the place He eanvcd
the lizard about, but could not llossb H.
hold until he pried its big Jaw =ot
a nail. Then he put the lizlrd Ia its box
and ran to DR.. Aliens office in East
Twenty eighth street The physician
was not in. His office boy went with
Sonell to Drs. f. S. Bates and f. S.
Frey. whose offices are at AZ East TWEEN
fv=aFnhfh Efrorf hr H. IL
wound. and DR.. Allen, who had heard OF
the accident, hurried in and cut away the
flesh on the inside part of the base of the
finger, where four holes from the reptiles
teeth we're visible on each side. Then an
ambulance was summoned and Sonell
was taken to Bellevue hospital. There
he was put in ward 80. under the care of
DR.. Walter Benzel. DR., Benzel found
Sonells hand swollen TO nearly twice its
normal size, but could discover no evil
dence that the snake charmer was pois-
oned. Sonell, who had previously
tainted. was in a serious condition Of
shock. He was livid with fright, and
confidently believed that he would die.
He trembled in every muscle and scarcely
breathed. To assist respiration DR.. BEN
eel administered atrophine hyUodermicallv,
simultaneously injecting whisky and dig
tails to counteract the effects of any posi-
BILE poison that he might have received.
Five minims Of digitalis were administers ed
at a dose and the doses were kept up for
some time. Sonell sank into a sleep at 4
o clock, n hour after his admission to
the hospital. He awoke about three
hours later. The swelling OF his hand,
which DIR. Benzel says may be caused by
or the bandage that one of
the other physicians has put around his
wrist, had not subsided. Tie hand
showed slight discoloration and Sonell
daZed, He answered questions
vaguely and with difficulty. Part of Son
ellis story was confirmed by the doctors
who cauterIzed his wounds. Just where
DR.. Aliens laboratory Is none of those con
cerned will say.
The ella monster is found in New
Mexlca and Arizona. 1t is a repulsive
looking reptile, with an ugly snake-likc
head. Its body Is generally pulled out
like a big pouch. and touches on the
ground when the lizard stands erect on ITS
four black legs. The tail is about one.
third the entire length of the body, being
of nearly the same thickness throughout,
and terminating abruptly in a blunt point
The mouth Is black. and its tongue. of
the same hue, IS fiat and forked. The
elias scientific name is Heloderma horri-
DUN, and it is generally reckoned one of
the extremely poisonous species of the liz
ard family. The body is scaly, resem-
bling that OF a rattlesnake. and Is COW
cred with irregular black and yellow spots.
or blotches.. The inhabitants OF Arizona.
where the monster is generally found,
regard its bite as very dangerous only
when the reptile is crazed. when 1t gives
off a peculiar blackish saliva. Drs. Mitch
ell and PrItchard, OF the College of Ply
sicians of Philadelphia, made a series Of
experiments with the ella and injected
some OF its saliva into a live pigeon,
which died in nine minutes. The doctors
affirmed that rattlesnake poison was .
bagatelle in comparison, and that large
worms and insects persisted more quickly
from the elias bite than when cut in
pieces by the scissors. GA the other hand,
DR.. German, of Harvard, caused n kitten
to be bitten twice by the monster, and on
dissecting the cat found no Indications of
poison. The Mexicans and Indians arc
deathly afraid OF the ella. and relate mar,
velOus stories of its venom. Its breath.
they say, is extremely poisonous. and
from this it receives the native cOCnomcn.
e%scupiOn, meaning in English the spit
ter. The Mexicans hold that the Giia's
poison Is derived from the loco, or crazy
plant. which grows abundautly in South.
ern Arizona and Texas, where the low
plant does not grow to any great extent.
The natives capture it by using a long
sapling with a moose at the end.
Gods blessing to mankind, say thOus.
ands who have been cured by Oregol
Kidney Tea.