The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-12-11
KILLED BY SNAKES.
FEARFUL MORTALITY FROM THEIR
BITES AMONG NATIVES.


vsnemous Reptiles That Enter Houses
Genuine Sea serpents With Fatal Bite
Every half hour in India, on thu
average, death occurs from snake
poisoning. The totalnumbero of deaths
from this cause in day is about 81
and in a year about 10000. Forum
atsly for the maintenance of the Brit
ish power in India, these casualtle:
are confined almost entirely to the
poorer and more ignorant natives.
These natives are themselves Largely
to blame for the frequency with which
they are stricken down by the poison
GUS reptiles. They habitually GO
about with bare feet, making so little
noise that the snake is surprised and
bites, whereas if it had been warned
of the natives approach it would have
skunk harmlessly out of the way.
India may fairly be called the home
of snakes, but all of these are by no
means poisonous. 1t is easy to dis
tinpuish between those that are harm
full and those which are not. General
", the shape of poisonous snake S
head is oval, and in the case OF the
venomous colubridae there is scale
in front of the eye which extends down
10 the scale in which the nostrll IS sltu-
ated. This indicates almost certainly
that the species is poisonous: If the
snake is marked with white rings
throughout it's length, which is usual
ly about 3 feet, you may feel sure that
YOU are in possession of a KARAT.
Karaits are very inconvenient AMI
mails to have about the house. They
are sociable creatures and are fond OF
taking up residence in human hablta-
tions. They have an uncomfortable
habit of dropping upon the bed out of
thatch with which the bungalows or
or houses are rooted. They also lurk
in the tops of window sashes, coil
themselves up behind the basin on the
washstand, and when the chance Of
fers will ensconce themselves snugly
in the privacy of a bureau drawer.
They are too stupid or too lethargllc
to get out of the way, and the result
is an appalling number of deaths from
their bites. Throughout northern In
dia the karaits are so abundant that
one hasto be very cautious in walking
across his room at night for lear OF
treading on one Of these unbldden
guests in the dark.
Two other snakes in India are more
deadly than the karat. These are the
cobra, which is almost as common,
and the hamadryas, which IS quite
rare. These creatures are both related
to the KARAT, and can be distinguished
from harmless snakes by the same
signs. You need never fear injury
from the cobra if you treat him with
even a small degree of consideration.
He will retire at the approach OF a
human being if he has time enough.
But his temper is irritable, and when
he does bite he places you immediate
ly beyond the reach of medical aid.
The only thing that will save you is to
quickly cut out the wounded flesh spot
with a knife.
Once in India man who was cut
ting wood was bitten on the finger by
a cobra. At once he raised his axe in
his other hand and chopped the finger
clean off. He began to regret his act,
so, thinking he might as well make an
effort to save his finger, he recovered
the severed piece and placed it in posi-
ton. The poison penetrated into his
system through the rejoined blood yes
sells, with the result that he died.
A woman was bitten in the hand by
a cobra while she was nursing her
child. Both child and mother died.
This story has been recorded officially
by a qualified physician:
The poison of the cobra has been
found to be almost as deadly when
dried and ground into powder as when
injected by the reptile itself. Native
Indian physicians use the poison IN
minute does in various maladies, but
the results are not encouraging. The
method of extracting the poison is
very interesting. A cobra is placed IN
an earthen pot and a banana dropped
after it. The lid is then tied down
and the pot heated over a fire. The
uncomfortable rise in temberature
causes the prisoner to become irrita-
BILE. and it vents its wrath on the ba-
mana, biting it again and again in its
paroxysms. The fruit is afterwards
carefully dried, and is then ready for
use. 1t is said to be powerful slim
ulant.
The hamadryas is the largest and
most formidable of the venomous
snakes. Members of this species often
attain length of IA feet, and they are
so fierce that they will sometimes at
tack and even persue any one who
ventures too near their nests. They
have been known to impede travel by
blocking the road throgh a jungle and
refusing to move.
The hamadrYas feed largely upon
other snakes, and from this circum
stance. his presence in India is not az
unmitigatea evil. They are frequent
" mistaken for a harmless rock snake,
and natives of India have been known
to receive hamadryas into their fam
lily, under the impression that the rep
tile was not poisonous.
The karat, the cobra and the ham
adryas are all colubrine snakes, OF
asps, and are supposed to be closely re
lated to the creature by means o.
which Cleopatra committed suicide.
India also has plentiful supply o.
yiperine snakes. These creatures car
always be recognized without Difficult
ty by their broad, swollen heads ant
their necks covered with tiny scales
VSoers are divided into pit vipers
- L 10 c,f -