The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-07-23


Poisonous snakes are usually born alive,
and of the poisonous ones some lay
eggs The young moccasins are about a
foot in lenath and are much more prettily |
marked than the adults. When they are |
"A hours old they are extremely active and |
savage, biting at anything approaching
them, and in their fierce rage will strike
each other and at their own bodies. Even
at that age they are found to be extremely
poisonous, and full-grown rat, bitten by
one of them, died 90 minutes afterward.
The young moccasins are more savage and
will strike on less provocation than the
adults.
NO SIGNIFICANCE IN RATTLEs.
An erroneous idea in regard to rattle
snakes is that the rattles indicate the age
of the suake. The rattles; however, are
not increased froEl the end as is commonly
supposed, but new one is formed at the
base of the others every time the snake
sheds its skin, as it does several times a
year. These rattles are constantly being
broken and knocked off in fighting, travel
ling or even in rattling, and when greatly
enraged the rattles have tendency to wear
out and the end one drops off, according to
the frequency with which they are used.
Sometimes a comparatively small snake
will have from Is to Is rattles, and six
or seven foot rattlesnake will have only four
or five. With all their ferocity and Vi
ciousness these snakes have as much indi-
viduality as human beings, and, while some
of them are constantly rattling and threat
ening, others are comparatively quiet. In
confinement rattlesnakes lose their rattles
rapidly, many having the number of their
rattles reduced to three or four. The hog
nosed adders, though commonly supposed
to be very deadly, are absolutely harmless.
They threaten by putting themselves up to
an enormous size and then letting them
selves out with an angry hiss. They spread
out and fatten their necks until they look
like the hood and head of the cobra.
The fang of poisonous snake is hollow
throughout, having perfect canal from
the base of the fang to the point, where the
opening consists of narrow longitudinal
slit. The fang represents perfect hypoder-
mic needle, and when it is driven into the
flesh the poison is injected in the deeper
tissues as a dose of morphine could be in
jected by hypodermic syringe. The fang
is attached to bone that is freely nova
BILE, so that fang can be raised for attack
r or lowered entirely out of sight into de-
preston of the upper jaw just behind it.
! The poisonous fangs are in the upper jaw
only, other minute curved teeth being used
only in swallowing,
The skins and tissues are so elastic that
snakes can swallow quantities much larger
, than the snakes themselves. The process
of swallowing on their part is more or less
an operation of drawing themselves around
their food, forcing themselves outside of it.
The act may be compared to the pulling Of
glove on the hand, or the drawing of a
pillow case over pillow.
E VIRUS AND ITS EFFECTS.
One reason why the poison of venomous
snakes is so fatal is that it is driven deep
in the tissues through minute opening,
and there is no chance of getting it out or
of its being washed out Where only a
scratch has been made, or an open cut, DIR.
Allen has found by experiment that there
is little chance of the wound being fatal,
as the poison can be washed out or sucked
out. The poison is secreted by large glands
along the sides of the head Of the snake,
under and beyond the eyes, and attached
to it is a sack in which the poison is stored
until it is needed, small tube, connecting
this with the opening at the base of the
fang.
The poison is a thick, viscid liquid u.s.
ually of bright-yellow color, and consists
of an albumenoid which would do no harm
if taken in the stomach unless there were
! some cuts or abrasions in the mouth by
which it could get into the blood. The
poison would do no harm in the stomach
because it would be digested, Several diff
ferent ingredients of the poison have beer
j.. separated by chemists, and each produces
! its own symptoms The effects of the com
bined poison seem to be exerted chiefly OF
the nervous system, having a paralyzing
influence over various nerves.
The very first immediate symptom of the
poison is tendency to heart failure, anC
. the last fatal symptom seems to be the
: gradual failure of the respiratory function
. A strange fact about the poison is that i
4 almost always contains living germs, ol
bacteria, which in themselves would b,
i, likely to cause blood poisoning even if thu
= true poison of the snake had not been fatal
The fangs are very often cast of and re
= placed by new ones. Sometimes there vii
: be four fangs visible instead of two. Ii
f the cavity behind the fangs are usually fou
n or FIVE reserve fangs in various stages o
. development, some of them consisting o
e mere points.
The safest method of treating any snak'
bite, DIR. Allen has found, is to cut into th'
: wound as thoroughly as possible and a
4 once. Whisky and other stimulants ar
: used chiefly to prevent heart failure, anC
in most cases the use of them is Overdone
The bite of the northern form of rattle
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