The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-02-09
CURE FOR SNAKE BITES.
Attest Discovery of Science for Saving TIu
man Life.
From che Washinaton Posi-.
man Life.

| SA0Ao csiOnJ WILL q uoUbC "
leather on the end. With this ;nstru
nens the serpent is seized by the
neck, and, taking care not to hurt it.
the animal ID laid upon d table and
held firmly. Between its jaws il
thrust the edge Of little glass sau.
Ger, which itt bites ierceiy. The re.
suit is an injection Of venom into the
saucer. This yellowish, transpar.
ent, sticky fluid, without smell o,
taste. It is soluble in water, and il
shaken becomes fyeeAy. Dissolved in
alcohol or glycerine it preserves its
properties for any length Of time.
Dried it will remain unaltered for an
indefinite period. On this account it
is prudent to handle with care fangs
that have been removed from the jaws
OF deadly snakes, 20 matter how old
they are.
DIR. Calmette keeps stock on hand
of venoms Of many kind of snakes,
dried or in solutions Of glycerine.
His cabinet of preserved poisons in
cludes those Of the American rattle
snake, the dreaded oopperhead, the
jaracara Of the valleys of the Orinoco
and Amazon, and the surucu of the
same region, whose bite kills a COW in
two hours also the cobra and kriat Of
India, the asp of Cleopatra, the hor-
ned viper Of Egypt, the tiger snake
and death adder Of Australia, and the
famed fer-de-lance, which kills from
60 to so persons annually in Martin
que, the last species peculiar 30 Mar
tinque, St. Lucie, and the neighbor-
ing islands Of St. Vincent. But 80
far as possible the Doctor employs
venom from living serpents, and
healthy specimens of the cobra, rat
tlesnake, asp. fer-de-lsnce, horned
viper, and other species are kept as
captives. It is observed that the
poisons of different snakes vary much
in qunlity.
Snake venom will stand boiling for
long time without losing it's proper
ties. 1t dries like gum or varnish.
The first chemical analysis of it wcs
made by Prince Lucien Bonaparte in
1843, who called the supposed active
principle ssviperine." Subsequent in
vestigation has proved that it is
very complex albuminoid compound.
DR.. Calmette gets the poison from
dead serpents by dissecting out che
glands from each side of the uppes
jaw, just under the skin aud behind
the eyes. These glands are made to
yield the poison which they contain
by pressure. Finally, the venom is
eyaporated and put in glass tube,
Which is sealed at both ends to geer
out the air. One interesting fact dis
covered is. That the blood of snakes is
poisonous. The supposition is that it
actually contains the principles which
are concentrated In the secretion Of
the venom glands.
Many lots Of scorpions have been
shipped from Tunis aud Cairo to d..
Calmette, who desired to study their:
poison and compare 4. With that Of
snakes. The method he adopted was
to cut off the last segment Of each
scorpions tail and mash it in a conicali
glass together with a little distilled
water. Then he filtered the mix ture
aud evaporated the resulting solution.
In this way he got forty-six milli-
grammes of dry extract from twenty
eight scorpions. One twentieth Of. a
Of the extract killed q
mouse in two hours, the notable
symptoms being convulsive spasms,
paralysis, and difficulty in breathing,
These symptoms cosresponded closely
to@tnose of snake poisoning. Immune
ICED mice were moo affected By the
scorpion venom. In the north Of
Africa scorpion bites are very serious.
and sometimes fasal. Accordingly, ii
is suggested that persons bitten by
scorpions may find the anti-venom d
cure. For a long time it, has been
imagined that the poison Of the bee
was probably comparable in power to
that Of the rattlespakc, inasmuch as.
80 small Q quantity as the insect is
armed with produces such distressing
effects. s!
One Of the strangsst facts in nature
is the Immunity Of certain species Of
mammals from poison BY snake venom.
Hedgehogs do not seem to be injured
by it; pigs often eat deadly serpents,
and tho little mongoose. hardly larger.
than q big squirrel, does not hesitate
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