The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-16
A CURE FOR SNAKE BITES.
The Most Recent Treatment of Viper
Venom in France.
From the New York Times.

FROM the New I OTk Times.
1t is the old thing over again. 1.-THE hair
of the dog for the cure of the bite" But
when you look into the primal qaulity
of the antitoxines, that ready is about
what it is. and so we may believe that in
former groupings. the "similia similibus
curantur' was not so very far out of the
way.
Ever since DR.. S. Weir Mitchell isolated
the venom of the rattesnake. and crota-
line was shown to exercise its toxic ef-
fects, innumerable have been the sub
stances preferred as antidotes. 1t cannot
be said that any of the countless things
offered have done any good. General treat
ment of the individual who has been bit
ten by a rattlesnake has been improved,
and thereby lives have been saved. The
virtue of a stimulant has been successful
ly shown. But the antidote has not been
found. We do know that the Moqui In
dams, in their snake dances, handle the
RATHER with impunity, We are satisfied
that the fangs Of the snake are not ex-
tracted. 1t seems to be pretty certain that
there are occasional bites inflicted, but
the Indians never are known to succumb
or even to feel the least inconvenience.
In France, NJ. Phisalix, attached to the
Pasteur Museum, in Paris, has been car
rying out series of experiments with the
venom of the native viper. We have gem
orally supposed that the viper in France
was not dangerous creature, but, accord
ing to statistics, II per cent. of adults
bitten in France by vipers die. Anyhow.
1t seems positive that those who have
been struck by the fangs OF the French
viper suffer much fhconvenince. Last
year, in conjunction with ". Bertrand
NJ. PhiSaliX experimental with the ven
ON of the cobra, with the end in view of
administering small injections of modified
venom into animals, so as to protect them
from the poison. Calves and asses were
treated serotherapeutically, and became
apparently immune or at least a fair
injection Of the natural cobra venom did
not seem to harm either the calves or
the asses.
The early method employed by NJ PHI
salix was to take viper poison direct from
the venom sack, at the base of the fang,
and to subject this poison to a heat of
so degrees, continued for five minutes.
Certain notifications then took place in
the venom, and small injections could be
made which rendered animals unattacka-
BILE when pure venom was put into their
circulation.
The latest discovery of NJ. Phisalix is
this: The venom is extracted directly
from the poison glands of the viper, and
passed through a Pasteur filter. What has
passed through the filter is dried in a
vacuum. The resultant IS a yellowish
powder, which must be kept from the
sunlight One part Of this dry venom is
diluted with 1000 parts of water, refilter-
ed and then again, to one part of this
solutions 5000 more parts of water are adj
ded Then the quantity of venom in So
luton is infinitely small.
There seems then to be a complete d.
vision of the very poisonous substance
in the venom brought about by hltering
1t is the less dangerous poison which re-
mains in solution According then to NJ
Phisalix an injection of this second So
luton is a perfect antitoxine against
viper bites.
If the method as devised by NJ. Phis.
alix is good one, it has the great ad-
vantage of simplicity, because in the
early experiments with other snake pois-
ons the act of heating them at even so
degrees was likely to destroy the venom.
Speculating on this subject it must be
evident that the special faculty a snake
has of storing away his venom in one
particular sack, and of intensifying its
quality, can only be brought about by the
fact that the poison in dilute condition
must circulate in it's blood. If. then, this |
is the case, all that would have to be done !
would be to take a rattlesnake, bleed it, !
and from the serum extract an antitox-
inc.
It would be wiser, as yet, to await fur |
Their developments, and give NJ. Phisalix |
the fullest opportunity to continue his ex- |
periments 1t must be borne in mind, too, |
that he comes accredited by the Pastuer |
museum and is himself a scientific man |
Of high repute..
AS rattlesnakes are abundant in the |
United States, a series of experiments |
might be carried out by our own toxicolo- !
pisfs say at the United States national !
and If only NJ. Phisalix's asser- |
tions could be confirmed on this side of |
the water, then the dread of the rattler /
would no longer exist.