The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-01
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Strange Secret Revealed.
0 o oe
Now Proved An
Antdote.

| venom. The smallest quantity OF anti
dote gained from the bile of the harm
| less serpent which it Is necessary to
| use, Is considerably larger than that
| from the feeblest Of the biles of venom
GUS serpents, although at that a very
small quantity. The bile Of the OK is
able to antagonize the fatal action Of
serpents venom, its antagonizing pow
| er, however, being only about the one
SEVENTEEN of that Of the strongest Of
the biles of venomous serpents which
have been tested. 1t was shown by
other experiments that the bile Of the
rabbit and the guinea-pig also pos
seSses this antivenomous property, and
! also in a degree, which, though feeble
when compared with the bile of venom
Gus serpents, is yet in itself consider
| able.
Although the bile possesses much
| power in antagoniZing venom when the
two misunderstanding the antidotal
| constituent of the latter-are mixed to-
gether it cannot be too distinctly stat
ed that when the antidote is admins
| tered after the venom has been inject
ed into the system, such as in the case
of a genuine snake bite, the quantity
Of the antidote required is from 1000
TO 1000 times greater than when ad-
ministered in the manner adopted for
purposes of experiment.
| Neither can the bile itself be used
directly, as some might believe, with
| out careful study of the question. AL
| though, while in the alimentary canal,
| bile is non-toxic or antidotal, it Is al
| together different when it is injected
under the skin or into a blood vessel.
| The bile then acts as poison; and II
dose of bile were injected under the
| skin containing a sufficient quantity or
| the antiVeromOus constituent to antag-
| n Of O.
ceived half an hour previously, the con-
| stituents of the bile which are nom
| antidotal, but at the same time poison
| Gus, might be so great in amount as to
| produce death. Thus in an experiment
| made with African cobra bile, admins
| terd in q dose estimated to be sufficient
! thirty minutes after a dose of cobra
venom had been injected simultaneous
| ly the animal survived for four days,
| whereas an animal used in an expert
! ment without bile died in six hours.
| During the two days before death the
| animal which had received both bile
| and venom exhibited symptoms, how
! ever, which were rather those of bile
| than of venom poisoning. 1t is i'm
| probable, therefore, that the bile in Its
natural form could be used as an anti
dote except by stomach administration
or by application to the wound caused
| by snake bite.
| The results of the experiments made
| demonstrate that the antidote produc-
! ed from bile is equal or rather superior
| to the most powerful anti-venomous
| serum yet obtained. That the social
| ed native practitioners of Africa ap
| preciated the value of the bile as
| remedy is apparent from the fact
| which I have discovered by analysis
| that serpents' bile enters largely into
! the composition Of their almost always
| efFlcacious remedies for snake bite. A
''snake doctor with a high local repu-
| tatiOn, when asked to assist in procur-
| ing serpents gall bladders in order
| that the bile might be examined, hest
| tated and then exclaimed: "Oh, they
| are beginning to learn too much" be-
ing obviously alarmed lest his prac-
| tice should be injured
The interest associated with this ac-
| ton of bile is probably not restricted to
| its effect on venom. It has the same
| effect upon many of the poisons of dis
| ease. Many of these poisons, such as
| those of lOckjaw and diphtheria, while
notCriously active when present in the
blood, are inert when introduced into
| the stomach. Even when circulating in
] the blood, poisOns. in common with
! other organic pOisons, are probably be-
! ing constantly forced into the alimen-
| terry canal where they would at once
! ~ ~ .LiiCi4+ tCoIi.bIiiNC BO6tl ny COH-
| tact with the bile. ard thereby the
total effective quantity Of the poison in
the body would be reduced.
Bile is produced in large quantities
by all in the human organism, and it
is present in the intestinal canal
throughout its whole length; but be-
ycnd the fact that it is an important
eXcretion, removing waste products
from the body, its vastly important
functions nave not hitherto been known
TO be of much value. SO much is this
the case that recent writer has re-
| marked: THE bile is a most elaborate
secretion;it is poured into the intestine,
and finds apparently little to do" To
such recognized functions as the pro-
motion of fat absorption and the lax
ative and indirect antiseptic actions,
there may be added the additional
function of rendering inert many or
ganic poisOns introduced into or gem
Grated in the alimentary canal.
Thomas R. Fraser,
NJ. D., Ii. D., F. r. S.