The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-08
IN A wOMAN's STOMACH.
X-Rays Locate Il TweIve-Inch
Snake.

From the Philadelphia Press.
After carrying Il live snake twelve inch
es long entombed In her stomach for elev-
en- years Mrs. w. H Meyer of shamolln,
Pa, has been relieved of her unweleome
burden. Mrs. Meyer is of German extrac-
ton and is the mother Of eight children.
For years she had been mysterlously suf-
fering, the symptoms or her ailment be-
ing such as to battle the skill Of her physi-
clans. The general verdict of these was
that her trouble was due to another
cause, but they failed to give the woman
relief She lost her appetite and thinned
down to mere skeleton until she weighed
seventy pounds belO v her normal weight.
Although she had lost her natural ap-
petite Mrs. Meyer found it necessary to
partake of food and drink at all hours of
the day and night in order to relieve her
self of what seemed TO be the violent ant
les of some crawling creature within her.
During the past two and a half years she
has not enjoyed a single nights rest, and
never dared retire without having a plate
of food and pitcher of water at her bed
side. About every hour there would be a
Writhing sensation in her bedroom as
though some object was dartiug about,
and experience demonstrated that the only
way to stop the trouble was to take food
and drink without delay. Until she had
NtOaiC tlllS SIG WOUlQ Sull6T intensely, DuL
the respite seldom lasted more than an
hour
Ten weeks ago Mrs. Meyer and one of
her daughters had the X-rays turned on
the formers stomach. The mysterious
occupant of Mrs. Meyers stomach was
evidently frightened by the rays of the
lamp as it darted about, causing her ter
rible pains. Prof. Robert Gierlng made a
careful examination and found a long
dark object was darting about in her
stomach at frightful rate. The operator
pronounced the intruder to be a snake and
advised her to send her physician to see
him.
DIR. Clark called on the manipulation of
the ex-ray and was convinced that a
snake was the cause of all his patients
sufferings Various emetics were admin.
istered from day to day. but they did
not dislodge the snake, although it fire.
quently wriggled up to the vicinity of her
throat. 4 few days ago the physician de.
cided to cause the reptiles death, and
he administered poisonous drugs to ac-
complish his purpose.
AS soon as Mrs. Meyer would swallow
a dose of these drugs the snake would
keep active for hours at a time, but its
movements gradually became less notice.
able. Last night Mrs. Meyer slept sound
ly, and to-day she was relieved of the
dead snake. which had been killed by the
poisonous drugs.
Mrs Meyer says that while living at
Kalmia, near Tower City, in Schuylkill
county, eleven years ago, she went out
to an overlooking spring for a glass OF
water after nightfall and swallowed the
contents of the glass in the dark She.
felt a strange object slip down her throat
with the water and FASTENED to the house,
informing her family that she believed
she had swallowed lizard. She resorted
to emetics to dislodge the reptile Her
efforts, however were unavailing, as were
those Of a physician, who was subsequent
ly called in to attend her and from that
evening she had been a constant sufferer