Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1897-12-16
The Bile of "A serpent an Antidote for
It's Hfte.


Another very effective agent for
overcoming the venom of serpents has
been discovered by Prof. Thomas R.
Fraser, of the University of Edinburgh.
It is not whisky wherewith Americans
antagonize the poison Of rattlesnakes;
nor is it NJ. Calmette's antitoxic serum,
obtained from the blood of animals
which have been rendered immune by
successive inoculations with small
quantities Of the venom The new anti
dote Is nothing more or less than the
serpent's own bile. In reporting
series Of elaborate experiments con-
Quoted by himself Prof. Fraser recently
said:
THE bile from the gall bladder Of the
African cobra, puff adder. rattlesnake
and grass snake was used, and each bile
was tested against the venom Of the At
rican and Indian cobra. For the most
par. the experiments were made by
mixing various quantities of each bile
with a little more than the minimum
fatal dose Of the venom, and then in
jecting this mixture under the skin of
the animal The object of the expert
ments was not only to determine II the
BILE can render venom innocuous, but
also, If it have this power, what Is the
smallest quantity of bile capable OF do
ing it?"
Having recounted the various doses
which he employed, and their effects,
he thus summarizes the result, 1T
was thus shown that the bile Of veno-
nous serpents is able, when mixed with
the venom of serpents, to prevent lethal
doses of the latter from producing
death, and that the bile Is, indeed, SO
powerful an agent in doing this that
quantity actually smaller than the guam
tity of venom may be sufficient for the
purpose. 1t need scarcely be added that
the doses of bile thus shown to be suf-
fcient represent only minute portions
of the bile stored in the gall bladder of
q serpent, and that serpent therefore
has st its disposal enough bile to pre-
vent injury from venom introduced into
the stomach in quantities many times
greater than the minimum lethal."
The bile of harmless serpents was
also tested and found to be effective.
though in less degree. The same Sc
cretion from an animal like the OK was
made the subject of other experiments
1t was even less powerful than the bile
of innocuous snakes, and about one
seventh as strong in its antitoxic in
fuence as the bite of the cobra or asp
But il enough of it were used it would
overcome a fatal dose of the poison.
DIR. Fraser found that he could isolate
the particular element in a serpent's
bite which has this surprising property,
so that the antidote can be prepared for
the market in very compact form. And
the process of manufacture is probably
quite as simple as, and perhaps more
rapid, than that of NJ. Calmette.
Precisely how he obtained his clew
the Edinburgh savant does not say. But
he incidentally remarks that some of
the native snake doctors In Africa have
q remedy, compounded Of several sub
stances, of which one is snake bile, and
they are accustomed to administer it
not only by introducing 1t into the pa
tents stomach (where IL is probably
without effect), but also by rubbing it
into the wound, where II would be alb
sorbed into the blood. 1t is probable,
therefore, that this wonderful provision
Of nature, which compels a serpent to
secrete in one part of its system cure
for the poison that it secretes in an
other, has long been known in some of
those countries where the information
is most likely to prove beneficial to
mankind.-St. Louis sGlobe-Democrat.