The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-21
SNAKE STORIES YET UNTOLD.
Professors Experience With One OF
His stuffed Collection.
From the New York Sun.

! you now once skinned a lnOCc0siu SHAKE,
replaced the skin twenty years later and
/ was bitten by the snake. No. 1 cannot
/ tell it now In order TO give it historical
! and scientific verisimilitude 1 must be pro-
vided with certain confirmatory data,
which, unfortunately. is not at the mo-
ment in my possession
| As he spoke the professor was standing
in front OF glass case containing dia-
mond-back rattlesnake. which, with pro-
truded fangs, was colled ready 10 spring
upon rat which was crouched in one
corner of the cage. The rat would I'M
! oVuLtedly have pa lsnS>> ~, 40 .--~ l.-~-
vious interposition Of Providence when
| han caused the death If both animnlS
several years before. The professor had
! st1lAeU ~i4u 4iiOu.teu ttVl4i nl tnV lSdilst.e
| attitudes mentioned. The professor is a.
ways doing things like that. BY active
| and unremitting work he has acquired a
motley collection of walking, creeping,
| hopping and flying things. He started a
| the work as a 9-year-old boy. instigated
! by another professor of maturer years
and with an Unsuitable yearning for in
| sects. These the younger professor pur-
| veyed-for a consideration. In this work
! he acquired the taste for natural history
| which has been the controlling impulse of
! his life. For more than forty-fve years
| he has given a full days work in each
| twenty-four hours TO matters directly con-
| nected with his hobby. The result is an
| unusually fine collection of what the pro-
| fessor terms Natures Wonders" These
| are arranged with care and considerable
| artistic effect. Gila monsters, scorpions,
| tarantulas and centipedes form one har-
! monious group. In another compartment
a diamond-back rattler has fastened upon
| an iguana, while another lizard of the
| same type referees the bout from the limb
! of neighboring tree, and bird of para
| disc, disguised with the spectacle, spreads
| its beautiful plumage and prepares for
| flight. In Among the Tropics" a big
| armadillo, fern-shaded from the sun, la
| lilly listens to an imaginary chorus from
! many gayly feather birds, while myriads
of beetles fill in the picture. The Music
| Lesson" represents two large white rats
| developing the vocal talents of their brood
| of nine Their apparatus consists of a
baton and a blackboard, on which are
shown a few bars from Home Sweet
| Home" The little rats appear to be very
| deeply impressed.
The professors masterpiece he terms his
| GLORY" 1t took him three months 10 as
semble this after its component parts had
been secured. Its originality will scarcely
| be gainsaid whatever opinion one NAV
frame about five feet square number of
Brazilian beetles spell the word God in
| letters about four inches high. wreath
OF butterflies surrounds this Inscription
and, outside of that East Indian beetles.
their color vivid contrast to that of the
inner cree, form the composite motto:
Glory to Him Now and Forever" Sen
arated from these by another layer of rare
and beautiful butterflies is a double row of
ordinary Dig black beetles, representing
the professor AYERS, every state and ter
ritory in the Union. The fringe is com.
posed of members of the humming bird
family, dhe amethyst sylph. the indigo
creeper and variously colored warb,ers of
beauty and grace. These specimens were
personally gathered by the professor IN
various parts of the world.
OF silk-weaving insects the professor
owns 10 distinct varieties out of possi-
BILE $50. He says that this is the record IN
collections of this character He is mar
ticularly rich in specimens of the only
member of this class whose services arc
practically utilized by arbiters or COM
MERGE The ordinary silkworm is here ex-
hlblted IN its various stages of develoo-
ment-trst as a worm, then in many s,,c.
cessive phases Of cocoon process after
ward as newly Matched butterfly with
scarcely pereeptible wings and finally In
fun maturity Incidentally. the process
oi correcting, weaving and dyeing silk is
Illustrated. rms Is indicative of the thor
oughness of the professors methods.
Among the 1000 varieties OF bntteraiss
and moths in the collection there are som,
rare and freakish specimens. The Satnr-
ma atlas of the hill district of India bears
on the upper corners Of the wings wen
DENIED representation Of a snakes beaa
Ihe urania Croesus, the worlds mosf
beautiful butterfly, whose wings are rain.
N fho
their colorfng, avoids the intrusive o-o~a
Oh the sun and flies by night alone
Naturally, the professors SUNNY ~ orao
do1e ana Renaissance Is large. Tboaa Of
most general interest relate to snaltee yrt,a
WHISKY cure in cases of ratt.esnska bita
The professor regards as myth re
hoids that there Is no authentic record Of
sihsIe instance IN which whisky has
effected cure where rattlesnake veno7,
has actually entered the human bodv
sometimes, he states, snake tempor1riiv
out OF venom viii bite a man; the victim
franicaliy seeks whisky. and feelino ~,
III effects (after his recovery from intoxi-
cation), Sscribes the cure" to tho rve
juice me professor cites several cases
where whisky has been Intellectual ana
the victim died in agony. There is one
sure cure for rationale poison. he con-
tends. Il consists in Immediately making
an incision at the place of the bite ana
forcing the blood to flow freely, carrying
the venom with II. one of his Illustrative
stories on this point concerns an Indiana
woman. She was chopping wood near
her home one day. when a RATHER attached
itself TO her leg and would not let 20
Raising her AK, she delivered blow al
the snake. Fright rendered her aim un-
certain. and like the keen edge of the
ax relieved her of the snake,it also detach-
ed a large portion of her own flesh. In
spite Of the pain and the copious blood
flow, the woman contrived 10 call to The
son of a neighbor and to send him for a
physician. Then she hobbled into the
house and tainted. The doctor came ex-
amned the wound, stanched the flow of
blood, and announced that the ak wound
had undoubtedly saved her life, all trace
of the venom having been washed away
In the torrent of outrushing blood.
The professor, of course, has had hts
own rattlesnake experience. He tells 1t in
this fashion:
I'm 1863 while near Little Rock, Ark, I
,,,aIa dafIv cuacfc for f.pftarafoe -,