The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-10-20

lar shaped transverse bands or
blotches His scales are keeled-raspy-
looking. but velVety. HIS general ap-
pearance, as he is coiled, reminds one
of a piece of lichen-covered rock, or a
piece of moss-eoVered bark lying on
the ground; at any rate a careless
eye would take him for some such
object His eyes are cat-like, with
a little black slit for a sight His
brown. When he goes away he docs
not disappear like a nash, but just
ghdes gracefully OFT, as il not in too
great a hurry.
Look at the FangS.
From all these marks, he was copper
head; and il we follow, kill. and examine
him, we shall find the tel-taie pits in
the sides of his nose, 50 that, as we have
said before. he will seem to have four
nostrlls. We may make mistakes in all
the other points but in these pits we can
never be deceived. If We take a small
knite-blade and open his mouth, we shall
lind, just under the pit in the upper jaw,
the long, sharp f2ngS nicely curved ana
folded back beneath the gums with
venom dripping from their points.
Having now seen all the marks of the
big-headed, rough-sfinued velvet-scaled
cat-eyed, pit-faced ,Bothrops, let us get
clear notion of how he poisons. and
what is to be dohe to counteract the eff
fects of his venom.
The fangs oC the RATHER, copper-hcad
and moccasin are of a similar type, beng
finely pointed. curved needles of enamel
followed out with clear passage
through their interior from base to poiEt.
The nose of the hypodermic syringe OF
morphia injector has been modelled upon
them. When the snake bites the venom
Is squlrted through these tubular fangs
into the wound. with d force that would
carry 1t through the air for distance OF
from four TO six feet; and several drops
are injected at one bite. If not Immediate
~ removed or destroyed by antidote il
is taken up by the circulation, and car
ried through the system d message of
death. If The dose be not sufficient of
course death will not come but from even
one drop the consequences are terrible 10
think of. qangrene viii superVene i'll
the place of inocculation; or in other
words. the bitten part will rot, and drop
out.
Is whisky an antidote? Nc! You may
drink hogshead of whisky, but you will
surely die if the dose of poison has been
sufficient THIS fact is certain, that
whisky will not kill the poison. Neither
viii tobacco ror gunpoWder, nor ammo
ma, nor olive oil, nor the juice of any
plant yet known TO man, savage or civil
-zed, no matter how popular that REM
edy may have become. These have all
been tried, but all found wanting in cases
of serious suake-bite.
But an aptidote has been discovered by
Dr. Calmette. of the Pasteur institute al
Paris, which is effective without leaving
pain or injury from its use.
Last year he did me the honor of send
ing me an account OF his experiments
on snake-venoms with full and COM
plete detail! Of the treatment to be pur-
sued in tGa case of a human Being su[ler-
ing from the bite of deadly snake
l translate from his own words:
Whatever We llay look for III the fu-
ture from the treatment by incubation
with prepared serum we can, after the
experiments made in the Pasteur insti-
tute, safely lay down the following meth
cd Of treatment to lie followed in case OF
human being suffering from the bite of
poisonous serpent
''First-Place, if possible, an elastic lig-
allure, moderately compressed, between
the place of the bite and the root of the
bitten member, so as to prevent the alb
sorption Of the venom.
'Second-Inject Immediately, into the
place of jnoculation, II. e., where the
fangs Of the snake have entered,) and
round about it for pretty good distance,
twenty to thirty cubic centimetres of
recent solution OF chloride Of lime.
"Third-Take off the 81; ,ligature as
soon as the injection has h t4a5;,ssad ss. and
battle the place well with y LIS, Tue i no ted
solution of hypochloriGe Of BAeep LOT aeo-