Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1894-06-30
THE SNAKES OF INDIA.
THEY ARE THE CAUSE OF VERY
MANY DEATHS.
The Enormous Hamadryas and Its
Peculiarlties Curious Superstition OF
the Natives struggles of tho Govern
ment with the serpents.

Altogether about 10000 persons
die each year In India from the bites
Of the various snakes have men,
toned, and il is no eXaggeratton to
say that some sixty who were alive
and well yesterday. are to-day being
burnt or buried out here as u sequel
TO these accidents, The same will
happen tomorrow and tha next day;
and ut least one death from similar
causes may be expected 20 occur
every half hour between now and the
time the readers peruse what | have
written Mortality ot this magni-
tude is 4 terrible thing, though the
fact must be remembered that il Is
distributed among population four
times as large as that OF the United
States, and thus passes 10 great
extent unnoticed
The casualties are confined almost
entirely % the poorer and more
ignorant natives. VINO habituatly 70
about with bare feet. says McCiuro's
Magazin. For ALTHOUGH creatures
like tho hamadyyas and the echI,
are occasionally spelling for u fight,
As Il general rule a snake is no more
anxious 20 be trodden upun than d
man Is 10 tread upon H. The cousc-
queuce is that people who wear
boots are hardly evor bitten THIS
is not so much because OF the pro
lection ~ the leather as 90 account
OF the noise made by boot upon the
ground, which waras the snake 10
get out Of thu way The ordinary
native in bare feet makes hardl any
sound whatever rs he walks along,
ard il consequently very liable 10
surprise snake ia the path. Tho
white man, on the other hand. Ia
good pair Of arcaky boots il 80 safe
that it IS most exceptional IS hear
OF an accident where he Is concerned
The British government does what
II can TO got rid Of POISONOUS ,aaacs
Large rewards are annually paid for
their heads. and Ia this wav great
numbers are destroyed Attempts
are constantly being made to clear
away the rubbish which aecumllatcs
around village sites. and thus Is re-,
duce tho shelter In which these
creatures breed As set. however
hardly any appreciate eject has
been produced Year after ear the
tale OF death remains uudlminf4hsd
and fresh snakes appear as fast As
their predecessors are killed of For
2 long time the supposttlpn wa.
widely entertained that the prof.s.
sional native snake killers rggularly
bred the creatures for the sal s III tia
reward; but. as scientific men haye
quite failed in their effort, TO mar.
suado poisonous snakes to mnItiplv
in confinement, the belief seems
scarcely reasonable
A curious superstition rs said IL
prevail in some localities 20 the Of
feet that an innocent maiden i. NOT
liable TO be bitten. ana when 4 death
occurs from the bite Of some s1aj,s
which mas boon encouraged la the
house, II is said 10 IS tho little
daughter o. tho family who rs most
often selected for ths dangerous ta4k
OF driving 1t teuderly away. Eysn
when this is not the case. the grcat.
est care is usually taken that no
harm shall happen TO the snake
Dried and pulverizcd. the poison il
almost as deadly rs when In jcct,d be
tho live cobra Native doctors t.o
it incidentally in microscopic doses
and have Il Darbarous method OF rx-
tracing IT, They put cobra into
an earthen pot. and drou a banata In
after it, They then tic down tbc
lid and heat tho pot over tho fro
The wretchcd snake IS soon tortured
into rage 10 lbs baking prison. ana
bites the banana IN its paroxysna
The fruit is afterward carefully dried
and is then ready for use. II ia pto.
nounced under some circumstances
TO be- wonderfully powerful stfuu.
liant but il is only used In cytronno
cases, and even thea probably doc.
infinitely more harm than good.
The same preparation 10 also said
to be employed by leather workers
for poisoning other peoples cattle.
with q Wow 70 aitcrward buyfrg M
tho hides cheap This Is n form Of
crime very prevalent in India and
one that the authorities lind most
difficult 90 check For how is tho
ignorant native cultiyator 10 proyo
that his pillow bullocks have not diod
OF cattle di,case2 He may complain
to the nearest magistrate. and tho
mag stratc may order tho beast, a.
be examined. but snake poison leaves
no external marks and is almost i'm.
possible 70 detect chemically. II h
not surprising, under these circum.
stances. that he often decides 20 NO.
ecpt the loss. ana not incur the 81.
nifty Of the cattle poisonors bv
seeking redress.
a monarch among poisonous snakes
IS tho enormous hamadryas. which
grows to be a. much as fourteen fcnt
in length. ana Is So fierce that Il
viii sometimes attack and eycn
chase anyone who ventures near 10
its nest Native snake cbnrnors
who will handle the Gcrcsst eobrns
learIcsslf, are usually loath 20 toucb
u hamadryas. though ! have 81.
seen largo specimen Of
thl5 ycnomoug reptile In their bag.
y lays its eggs In heap Of decnyed