The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1898-12-24
TO SAVE MANY LIVES.
CALMETTE HAS PROVED THE
VALUE OF HIS ANTlVENINE.
An AntldOte for Snake Venom-How
the FIoid Is Procured-Methods of
Taking the Poison from the Reptiles
Fatalities from Bites In India.

Of Paris having succeeded in demon
strating to the medical world that his
antfvenine will be the means of say
ing thousands of human lives annual
ly in countries where death from
snake-bite is more frequent than the
says the New York Post. Some years
ago a surgeon connected with the Brit
lsh army in India became interested
in the poisonous snakes of that coun-
try. He published a work entitled
"Fhanatophidia" ii. e., the death ser
pents), and brought to light most APP
palling conditions. Sir Joseph Fay
rer, for it was he who entered into
this work, stated that on an average
10000 persons persisted 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 eve reported. Soon at
ter the publication of "Thanatophidia'
the medical profession became inter-
49, III A0h POlCoh
were made to discover an antidote.
1t 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 it's 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 RECEIVERS, 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 off, the serum Is sep
arated from it, which latter is the
antivenine. 1t is a pale, amber-col-
ored fluid and if left in a moderately
high temperature for a few months be-
comes useless; when used it is in
jected by means of a 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, if a small snake bites
a healthy person, the chances are that
the system will withstand the effects
ne tho pnip0n ond thn hitfon maroon
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
porarily increasing the action of the
heart, which the poison tends to de-
crease. The poison in making it's way
through the body causes destruction to
everything it touches, and to arrest
this destruction in the blood is to effect
a permanent cure. Next to DR.. Cal
mette's discovery in Importance are
strychnine and permanganate of
potash, which, if used skillfully as in
jections, produce excellent results.
The general effects of snake poison in
the system show the terrible nature
of this strange fluid. Immediately up
on introduction it's ravages begin; as
it passes into the veins they are de-
stroyed and the blood run freely into
the vicinity of the wounded part, as
Stunning the nature of an Internal hem.
orrhage. There is CLOTHING, or coagu
lation, and while this is going on some
of the poisoned blood is rapidly max
ing it's way toward the heart. If II
reaches this organ its action is sus.
pended, but still the fluid is working
in another direction-it attacks the
nerves, particularly the system cor
trolling the muscles Of respiration
which are paralyzed, and the victim il
unable to breathe. The method of ex
tracing venom from a snake is al
dangerous as it is interesting. A sticl
Is placed across the head of the rep
tile, tightly pinning it to the ground
while it is grasped by the neck, i'm
mediately behind the head, so that i
cannot turn and bite. The furiou
creature dashes it body from side t
side and emits a powerful musky odor
while the jaws snap viciously, show
l ing the long, pointed fangs. Numer
GUS experimenters have ~endeavored t
invent some apparatus for holding tn
snake while poison was being extract
ed but their inventions have been ex
tremely clumsy, and render the reptil
unfit for further handling after tn
. noison has been once collected. TIL
!. apparatus for extracting the poiso
. consists of a wide-mouthed bottle or
common tumbler, with a piece of blad
der tied tightly over the top. This
\ pressed against the serpent's jaws
J the reptile bites, sending the shar
fangs through the bladder and tn
venom runs from their tips into tn
glass. A large snake of five feet wi
yield a fluid dram of poison, which
equivalent to a t~easpoonful. TIL
venom is pale yellow and odorles
q and when left exposed, dries quickl
into a cracked scaly mass. The anatt
my of the poison apparatus of the sci
= pent consists of two glands %containin
the fluid, which are situated benin
the eyes and connecting by canals wit
. the fangs. The latter are W. Ion
! teeth in the forward part Of the uppt
Jaw. They are hollow and open in
. long narrow orifce at the tip. Whe