The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-10-31
EVERY ENOAO|)S SNAKE IS IN
kNIDOIE FOR IT'S Own DEADLY BITE.
Prof. Thomas R. Fraser, the Discoverer,
Writes of One of the Greatest Medico-
Scientific Achievements.

EDINBURGH. Scotland Oct @s--Tni-
xarsfty q Edinburgh TIE most
rsains.aS1ng invest gst5on and experiment.
I believe myself justified in saying that I
have discovered an absolute aEtsdo-s fer
tire hste ef Tire uaxt deadly serpent / have
alsa fsund that the substance from wh4ch
TIE antiiots - secured IS strongest and
best IN the ssrTsni whose bite IS tie mast
deadly.
TIE znts6o;e Is found tr The bile Of the
serpent To secure Il L IS necessary 20 $50
late or separate the antidctaI constituent
OF the bic from the r. rnatndsr OF the sub
stznce found IN a serpents gail bladder.
The method of the administration OF the
gntidote Is that known as injection beneath
tbs SKIN. so that the anssdate may not
rningie directly with the bleed @. the VIE
tin q snake BIKE, bat rather BE- absorbed
I have made number OF experiments
with the hillary secretion OF the Indian and
African eohras than which 10 more poison
Gus snakes exist. The result % these tests
showed thai the bile OF venomoEs serpents
- able. when mixed with the venom OF the
same serpents 20 prevent what have here
tofore been deadly doses OF the latter from
producing death. and that the bile IL In
deed 50 powerful an agsn, il doing this that
q quantity actually smaller than the guam
ttty OF venom may be sufficient for the pur-
pose. II need scarcely be added that the
doses OF bile thus shown 10 be sufficient
represent Only minute portions Of the bile
found IN the gzn bladder OF one OF the
snakes mentioned as beng utilized in the
experiments
These proofs laid bare the certainly re-
rnarkahle fact tina. every venomous ser
penr has al its disposal enough OF bile 70
prevent injury from venom introduced into
the blood In quantities many times greater
than the minimum dose Of venom which
will produce death. The experiments I
have described were made by mixing to-
gether and leaving in contact ten minutes.
. dose OF venom with 4 dose OF the anti
detail constituent of the bile. each substance
having been dissolved IN few tenths OF
cubic eentsmetsr OF water. After I had
considered the substances had remained
together q sufficien. time TO aEaIgamate,
injected the combination beneath the
skin Of an animal selected for experiment.
and waited for the result
In every instance where quantity OF the
an.i6otal solution greater In amount than
the quantity Of venom wss administered
the subject or experiment recovered. II
then occurred 20 me that possibly the bile
OF non-poisonous serpents as well as ami
mails might possess In limited degree, q.
Iszst. the antidofai properties which had
already discovered n the bilscai secretion
OF the snakes whose bite caused death. II
less as wei as yenomous resist through
their organism. the fatal action OF all ven
ems that are injected beneath their skins
or directly into their blood.
Various facts some Of which are anatom-
ical tend to show tha. the harmless. equal
" with the vsnsrrsus serpents, possess pol
son glands and secrete venom. The former
are harmless only In the serse that they
do not possess weapons OF offense IN thu
form OF poison fangs Most probably.
therefore. the relative Protection against
TIRE poisonous action Of verom introduced
into the blood. which is common 10 ser
penis Is dependent uron an effect pro-
dueed upon them by the venom which they
all secrete. although In the case OF thu
harmless serpents only In relatively small
quantities.
Experiments made with the bile OF the
grass snake confirmed this superstition.
when tested against the venom Of the In
dan cobra II was found 20 possess cura-
tive powers although 10 was always neces-
sary 70 use q much larger quantity than
when the antidote was obtained from the
bile Of the serpent which had also fur
rishea the venom. The smallest quantity
OF the antidote gained from the bile Of the
harmless serpent which II Is necessary 20
use. IS considerably larger than that from
the feehlest OF the hiies OF venorous ser
pents although at that a very suail guam
,sty. The bile OF the OK Is able 20 antag-
onixe the fatal action Of serpents venom.
rs antagonizing power. however. being
only about the one-ssventieth o, that OF the
strongest OF the hiies OF venomous serpents
which have been tested. II was shown by
other experiments that tire bile OF the rab-
bit and the xuinea-pig also possesses this
antfvenouous property. and also IN a de-