New-York tribune., 1897-08-15
4 .STR1NGE DISCOIER
THE BILE OF A SERPENT AN ANTIDOTE FOR


IT'S BITE.
Another very effective agent for overcoming
| the venom Of serpents has been discovered by
Professor Thomas r. Fraser, of the University
Of Edinburgh. 1t is not whiskey, wherewith
| Americans antagonize the poison Of rattle
snaNs; nor is it NJ. Calmette's antitoXic serum.
obtained from the blood Of animals which have
been rendered IMMUNE by successive inocula-
tons with small quantities Of the venom The
new antdotc is nothing more or less than the
serpents own bile. In reporting a series OF
elaborate experiments conducted by hiinSet.
Professor Fraser recently said:
The bile from the gall bladder Of the African
cobra. puff adder, rattesnake and grass snake
was used and each bile was tested against the
venom Of the African and the Indian cobra.
For the most part tho experiments were made
| by mixing various quantities Of each bile with
2 a little more than the minimum fatal dose OF
! the venom and then injecting this mixture un-
der the skin Of the animal. The object of the
experiments was not only to determine If the
bile can render venom innocuous. but also, If it
have this power what is the smallest quantity
Of bile capable of doing it,"
Having recounted the various doses which he
employed and their effects he thus summarizes
the result 1T was thus shown that the bild
of venomOus serpents is able when mixed with
/
of the latter from producing death and that the
| bile is, indeed so powerful an agent in donS
| this that a quantity actually smaller than the
quantity Of venom may BE- sufficient for the
| purpose. IT need scarcely be added that the
doses of bile thus shown to be sufficient repre-
sent only minute portions If the bile stored ~
| the gall bladder Of serpent, and that ser
pent, therefore. has at its disposal enough bile
to prevent injury from venom introduced mo
the stomach in quantities many times greater
| than the minimum etha."
The bile Of harmless serpents also testtr
| and found to be effective, though in less de-
gree. The secretion from an animal like
the OK was made the subject Of other expert
mcnts 1t was even less powerful than the bili
! OF innocuous snakes and about one seventh aa
! strong Cn it's antitoxic inhuence) as the bite OF
! the cobra or asp. But il enough Of ii were used
| it would overcome fatal dose Of the poison.
DR.. Fraser found that he could isolate tn.
particular element in a serpents bite which hat
this surprising property, so that the antidote
can be prepared for the market in very compact
| FORM And the process Of manufacture is prob
ably quite as simple as. and perhaps more rapid,
| than that of NJ. Calmette.
Precisely how he obtained his cew the Edln-
| burgh savant does not say. But he incld ally
remarks that some of the native snake doctors
| In Africa have remedy, compounded of several
substances, of which one is snake bile. and
! they are accustomed to administer it not only
! by introducing it into the patients stomach
! (where il is probably without effecO. but also
! by rubbing it into the wound. where it would
! be absorbed into the blood. 1t Is probable,
! therefore, that this wonderful provision Of nat
urc, which compes a serpent to secrete In one
! part OF its system for the poison that 1t
secretes in another. has long been known IN
some of those countries where the information
is most likely to prove beneficial to mankind