The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-02-22
SNAKES IN THE gLCCD.
A Small White Serpent Found in Human
Veins,

besieged with all sorts of serpents anC
fiery dragons, medicine and science arr
now able to demonstrate that snakes
live and move in ones being. An i'm
portant discovery in this direction only
a few months old in Europe and JUS
announced in this country was told the
other day by DR.. c. w. Stiles, of the
bureau of animal industry, at the de
partment of agriculture. 1t is a small
white snake that lives in the veins, Sc
curing entrance into the body through
the medium of drinking water II
wriggles about and chases up and
down the avenues of the blood at its
| pleasure. These little reptiles have
strange domestic habits. The male is
about four-ffths of an inch in length
and curves himself into the form of a
half circle. On the inside of the curve
he forms little canal with the edges
of his body and there he keeps Mrs.
Snake. He isn't larger than cotton
thread nor longer than the breadth Of
ones finger, but together they are
capable of working a great deal of
damage to a healthy mans circulation.
1t is certainly not a comfortable
thought to know that you may have
| few pairs of these animals tucked away
inside your jacket. The medical men
have another name for the disease
which results from their devastations,
but it would be popularity called poor
blood"
The story of this parasites existence
is curious. It's name has long been
known, but it's life history, which is
the most interesting and the most i'm
portant thing to know, was only re-
Gently discovered by Prof. Sonsino,
learned man of Pisa, Italy. In some
respects this snake is like tiuke worm.
The eggs or larvae from which it
matches are found in the water, whittier
they have come from some mans body.
They swim about there until they find
a certain kind of microscopic crab.
This crab they seize upon and live
with. They stay inside of him till some
one drinks the water and the crab,
which is nothing but harmless ami
malcule, and then the human snake is
and bores its way through the walls of
the intestines with the persistency of
wood worm till it finds a Judgment in
the veins.
AS this pestiferous reptile infests
cattle as well as human beings, some
knowledge of it is necessary for the
farmer as well as the physician, and
DR.. Stiles has been searching vigorous
ly for its existence in drinking water
since the discovery was announced, and
is prosecuting his search at the bureau
of animal industry.
The disease is best known in south
ern Europe and Africa. An Egyptian
at the worlds fair who danced with
one of the attractions in the Midway
Plaisance was afflicted with this dis
ease and became a patient at the
United States Army hospital. Aside
from this case the parasite has proba-
bly, never been recorded in this coun-
try, but DR.. Stiles thinks it by no
means improbable that it will be found
among the negroes of the south In
fact, the original slaves imported from
Africa brought with them kindred ills,
and through them, perhaps this snake
has been living for 200 or 800 years. So
long as the affection spreads with such
wonderful rapidity it is not improba-
BILE that Chicago may have a siege Of it
on account of the luckless Egyptian.
1t is difficult to conceive how the Chi
cago water could have escaped pollu-
ton, as the larvae are given off readily
and in great numbers.
Indeed, there are many species of
snakes that wander about and find pas
ture in the blood, and so far as they
are concerned in America their his
tory is intimately connected with the
negro race. All appear to have come
out of the east. One of the most pecu-
liar is the fiery dragon of the Children
of Israel. DR.. Stiles has one of these
Biblical monsters at the bureau of |
animal industry, which can be seen
face to face. 1t throws deal of light !
upon the Scriptual version of the story
and leaves one no longer to look at it |
darkly through the glass. The Mosaic |
narrative says that the Lord sent his
plague upon the people as they Jour
neyed in the neigh borhood of the Red |
Sea, but this is the favorite land for
the idiosyncrasles of the fiery dragon
to this day. They are long, slim, white
creations, and they get into the body |
in the same manner as the snakes first |
mentioned, through drinking water.
The scientific men reason that as Israel |
journeyed camps were often pitched |
beside the waters, and there was little |
means of tiltering what was drank. |
The larvae from which the dragon de- |
rives its existence has an UNIQUE
friendship also for a minute crab /
whose home is in good drinking water.
So The people of Israel became afflicted |
and Moses devised the cure of the |!
brazen serpent upon which they might |
look and live.
Some of the scientific men have an
explanation for Moses cure. They be- |
lieve it to have been a physicians knife
fashioned like unto serpent and used |
for extracting dragons from the body. |
These dragons have a curious way of |
breaking out at the groins, through |
which they rear their heads de6antlv |
and gnaw away the muscles. If ey-