The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-12


two feet high. and ii thinks a huckleberry
picker is making too much fuss over its
mead, 10 admonishes him not 10 become
100 familiar and TO move on. This IL does
py giving its tail a number OF violent
twists, whence results a rafting noise
inimitable by any mechanism yet devised
and readily recognized by the picker n
10 the manner born, who loses no time in
looping over the adjoining bushes. 1t Is
not Well TO pay a return visit TO the snake
Immediately after, for having given the
warning rattle, 4 coils itself into a small
heap, ready 10 spring upon any foe that
may appear. Not only is a snake danger
Gus then, but also IL cannot be killed
without likelihood of its biting itself.
Thus IL is let alone, with the knowledge
that its fury will soon subside and 10
viii not leave the place. An hour or two
later the same snake may be found lying
at full length under the same huckleber-
~ bush, and apparently as cool as though
no recent unpleasantness had occurred.
Then il is killed by the bushwhackers as
the one that strayed down into the clover
held In search of mice and birds
Now comes the dissection Of rattle
snake, which is a trick in itself, and but
few engaging in a hunt are willing to I'M
dertake 1t. There is as much prepara-
uon for it as for a modern antiseptic sur
gical operation. The preliminary part con-
slsts IN fastening the snake upon "A board,
which is done by driving a nail through
the serpentS head and another through
the tail During the last of the task the
operator proceeds with the utmost care,
Tor should the snake have bitten itself, and
he cut his fingers, blood poisoning and
death would result.
The fat of the rattlesnake has yellow
lsh color, not unlike that Of a young beef.
IL is surprising what an amount of fat
can be cut out of a rattlesnake in prime
condition. The fat is rendered just like
that of hog or steer. The oil produced,
from two to three ounces to a snake.
Is almost white in color, and has the
consistency of'tortoise oil, which it close
ly resembles. The method of testing the
oil, to ascertain whether il is poison
Gus or not, is unique. A teacup is half
uued with sweet milk. on the surface Of
this milk is allowed to fall a drop of oil.
II the oil is broken up by the force of
the fall into small globules, which float
around the surface of the milk, then the
oil is poisonous, the snake, during the pro-
cess of killing, having bitten itself; on
the other hand, If the drop of oil with
stands the jar of the fall, and does not
break into globules, but swims about
the surface of the milk, the whole adhering
as one mass, then the snake did not bite
itself, and the oil may be used with safe
~. a scientist might not place much Gre
dence in a test like this but the Penn
sylvania rattlesnake hunters rely on II
implicitly, and many a dish of oil they
have taken out into the garden and buried
in consequence.
The uses to which rattlesnake oil it put
are varied. The oil is looked upon as a
panacea for every i'll that defies either
diagnosis or ordinary treatment It is
called into requsition when other remedies
show no potency. Whatever ailing or fail
ing does not yield to medicines or ordi-
nary applications is believed susceptible
to the efficacy Of rattlesnake oil. Thus
a wart that refuses to succumb to pow
wowing or holds its own after being
rubbed with a live toad, is bathed with
rattlesnake oil as a last resort, after
which a piece of fat pork is tied upon
It, TO remain over night The pork in
where the water, dripping from the roof,
may fall upon 1t. In such a case, how
ever, the rattlesnake oil does not do its
work If the person burying the piece of
pork looks back upon the place of inter-
ment.
Ringworms are not supposed to hold out
long after rattlesnake oil has been rubbed
into them with a piece of quartz. A razor
honed with rattlesnake oil may cut but it
VIII never draw blood. A door hinge thus
oiled will henceforth move too smoothly to
squeak. Sore eyes of all kinds, including
pinkeye and cataract are treated with il
A colt that is stunted and scrubby has the
oil rubbed under its tongue. A sick sheep
that can't chew it's cud is dosed with
small ball made of sour bread and the
green inner bark of the elder bush shaved
off downward, and rubbed with rattlesnake
oil. When COW suffers from some occult
distemper shown in the loss of flesh or
gradual falling off in the yield of milk
her tail is slit open lOngitudiDallV afbOut
1.-THE bone In the opening is sprinkled pep
per and salt, after which rattlesnake oil is
dropped in. The wound is then tied shut
by winding piece of cloth around the tail
like bandage. The poor COW, sensitive to
the wound of the knife and the burning OF
the pepper and salt switches her tail in
distressing fashion, but the farmer con-
doles himself with the assurance that she
will come out a winner, and as a compen-
sation be restored to health. Rattlesnake
oil is regarded, also as a cure for the bite
of mad dog, though it must be taken
within nine days.
Occasionally the rattlesnake is despoiled
of its skin, as well as of it's fat The hide
is tanned by being buried three weeks in
soft soap. After being tanned the skin is
dried and whipped until it becomes soft
and pliable. The leather is now ready for
use. Narrow strips of it tied about the arms
or wrist relieve rheumatism. When rnea-
sles breaks out in a neighborhood several
pinches OF camphor and assafoetida are
seWed in a little bag made of rattlesnake
skin, which Is suspended by means of a
string cut from the same skin, from the
neck of a Child and worn on the breast
next to the skin The use of rattlesnake
skin for making purses is a bit too aesthet-
ic for the Pennsylvania Germans. More
over such familiarity with the skins
would tend to weaken the faith in the
healing properties attributed to Them
YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD.