The broad ax., 1898-12-10
TO SAVE MANY LIVES.
cALMETTE HAS PROVED THE
VALUE OF HIS ANTIvENINE.
An Antidots for snake venom-Hov
the Fluid Il Procursd-Msthods Of
Taking the Poison. from the RsptIies
Fatalities from Bites In India.

- - - aaNAn8 cQCNCEQCa III uCA40a-
strating to the medical world that his
antivenine will be the means of saw
Ing thousands OF human lives annual
ly In countries where death from
snake-bite is more frequent than the
fatalities occasioned from a seourge.
says the New York Post Some years
ago q surgeon connected with the Brit
tsh army In India became interested
In the poisonous snakes Of that coun-
try. He published a work entitled
.'Thanatophidia" q. e., the death ser
pents). and brought to light most ap-
palling conditions. Sir Joseph Fay
rer, for IL was he who entered into
this work, stated that on an average
10000 persons perished from the bite
OF the cobra in India every year, and
that the hamadryas, the polonga, the
carawala and other less deadly species
caused many deaths among the natives
which were never reported. Soon af-
ter the publication Of "Thanatophidia"
the medical profession became inter-
ested in snake poison and endeayors
were made to discover an antidote.
II was at this time that DR.. Calmette
began his experiments and upon much
the same lines as Pasteur--that is, by
immunization. A large animal is Sc
lected, presumably a horse-this crea-
ture being perfectly healthy and
sound. Into its veins Is injected a
very small quantity OF the poison. Al
though the creature feels the effects
OF the venom. the dose is so small that
1t soon recovers, when another and
slightly larger injection is admins
tered This operation is kept up for
a reasonable length of time, when the
animal is found to be perfectly i'm
mune-feeling no effects from even
large quantities OF injected poison.
As soon as the creature reaches this
stage Of immunity a quantity Of the
blood Is drawn on, the serum Is sep
arated from II. which latter is the
antivenine. II is a pale, amber-col-
ored fluid and II left in a moderately
high temperature for few months be-
comes useless; when used 1t is in
tected by means Of q hypodermic
syringe. Prior to the discovery Of an
tivenine, supposed remedies for snake
bite were many and varied. One,
usually thought infallible, was whisky,
but the truth is. IL small snake bites
a healthy person, the chances are that
the system will withstand the effects
Of the poison, and the bitten person
will recover after undergoing some
slight suffering. Such cases are gen
orally treated with whisky. and full
credit for the persons recovery Is al
ways given the spirits. Whisky has
absolutely no effect upon the poisoned
system, with the exception Of tenn
porarily increasing the action of the
heart, which the poison tends to de-
crease. The poison in making its way
though the body causes destruction to
everything II touches, and to arrest
this destruction In the blood is to effect
q permanent cure. Next to Dr. Cal
mette's discovery in importance are
strychnine and permanganats of
potash, which, II used skillfuIly as in
jections. produce excellent results.
The general effects Of snake poison in
the system show the terHible nature
OF this strange fluid. Immediately up
on introduction its rayages begin; as
II passes into the veins they are de-
stroyed and the blood runs freely into
the vicinity Of the wounded part, as
suming the nature Of an internal hem
orrhage. There Is clotting. or eoagu-
lation, and while this is going on some
Of the poisoned blood Is rapidly max
ing its way toward the heart II IT
reaches this organ its action IL sus-
pended. but still the fluid Is working
In another direction-it attacks the
nerves, particularly the system con-
trolling the muscles of respiration,
which are paralyzed. and the victim Is
unable to breathe. The method Of ex-
tracing venom from q snake Is as
dangerous as II is interesting. A stick
Is placed across the head OF the rep
tile, tightly plnning it to the ground.
while II is grasped by the neck. Inn
mediately behind the head. so that II
cannot turn and bite. The furious
creature dashes II body from side to
side and emits a powerful musky odor.
while the jaws snap viciously. show
ing the long. pointed fangs. Numer-
Gus experimentefs have endeAyored to
invent some apparatus for holding the
snake while poison was being extract
ed. but their inventions have been ex-
tremely clumsy. and render the reptile
unfit for further handling after the
poison has been once collected. Tue
apparatus tor extracting the poison
consists Of. wide-mouthed bottle or
common tnmbler. with = piece Of blad-
der tied tightly over the top. This Is
pressed against the serpent's Jaws;
the reptile bites. sending the sharp
fangs through the bladder and the
venom runs from their tips into the
glass. A large snake Of i've feet win
yield fluid dram Of poison. which Is
equivalent to q teaspoonfuL The
venom is pale yellow and Odoriess.
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