The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-06-27

BIT BY A GILA MONSTER.

Snake-Charmer's Experience with a
Poisonous Lizard.
The chief Snake-charmer" of Huber's
FOurteenth-street Museum Is John SOnell.
German, 80 years old, who lives at 200 East
Ninety-eighth street with his wife. DOnatus,
who is engaged in a similar capacity at
Worth'S Museum, says a New York dis
patch to the st. Louis Globe De mocrat.
DR.. G. Slower Allen Of n East Twenty
eighth street is engaged in experimenting
with poisonous snakes and other reptiles,
and for this purpose has laboratory on
Fourth avenue, near Seventy-sixth street,
where SOnell takes care Of the snakes for
him. On June 21st the snake charmer
brought to the laboratory what he declares
was ella monster, the ugly New Mexican
lizard, the bite of which some authorizes
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 il TO a box Sonell lifted
it by the tail. He turned his eyes in an
other direction for moment, and thu lizard,
which Is about Is inches long, turned and
fastened its teeth in the middle finger of
Sonell's left hand. SOnell was alone in the
place. He banged the lizard about, but
could not loosen its hold until he pried
the lizard in 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. E. S. Bates and Z. S.
Frey, whose offices are at AZ East Twenty
eighth street. DIR. Frey cauterized the
wound. and Or. 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 were
visible on each side. Then an ambulance
was summoned and Smell was taken TO
Bellevue Hospital. There he was put in
Ward 80, under the care of DR.. Walter
BenZel. DR.. Benzel found SonelPs hand
swollen to nearly, twice its normal siz +,
but could discover no evidence that the
snake-charmer was poisoned. Sonell, who
had previously tainted, was in a serious
condition Of shock. He was livid with
fright and confidently believed that he
would die. de trembted in every muscle
and scarcely breathed. To assist resp
ration DR.. BenZel administered atropine
hypodermically, simultaneously injecting
whisky, and digtaliS, to counterfeit the
effects of any. possible poison that he
might have received. Five minims of digi-
tails were administered at dose, and the
doses were kept up for some time. Sonell
sank into deep sleep at o'clock, one hour
after his admission to the hospital He
awOke about three hours later. The swelling
Vi Ills manu. Whlch DT' DehZell aay5 may De
caused by Inflammation or the baudage that
one of the other physicians has put around
his wrist, has not subsidized. The hand
showed slight dis:olOratioD, and Sonell
seemed daZed. The inhabitants of Arizona,
where the monster" is generally found, re-
gard its bite as very dangerous only when
the reptile IS craZed, when 1t gives off a
peculiar bIackish saliva. Drs. Mitchell and
Prichard, Of the College of Physicians
of Philadelphia, made a series of ex-
periments with the ella monster and in
jected some of its saliva into live
pigeon, which died in nine minutes. The
doctors affirmed that rattlesnake poison was
a bagatelle In comparison, and that large
worms and insects persisted more quickly
from the monsters bite than when cut In