Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-11-02

diamond back These snakes often
grow to a large size, and they fire.
quently knock their victim down when
they strike, so great is the force of the
blow. 1t is curious fact that the larg
seems to be the bite. The water moe
casin of the south, or 'cottonmouth,' as
it is locally called, is another danger
Gus snake.
There are only two venomous
snakes in the United States, namely,
copperhead and the harlequin snakes.
The latter snake is small but beauti-
full reptile. l might say, however, judg
ing from my experience in handling
venomous snakes, which has been con-
siderable, that they are, without an ex-
ception, extremely loath to bite. In
fact, as a practical illustration, 1t
would not take large sum of money
to induce me to put my bare hand and
arm into the cage Of rattlesnakes, as l
have no fear that 1 should be bitten.
| would hesitate a longer time, how
ever, before handling the copperheads,
as they are much more active and
vicious snake. However, several of
them got loose in this room the other
day and were caught by my assistants
without difficulty md made no attempt
to bite
DR.. Mcfarland said regarding the
preparation of the anti-venomous Sc
rum: In the first place, the poison
is extracted from the snakes. After |
have secured the venom it is evapo-
rated in vacuum and kept in dried
state until | am ready to use it, when
it is dissolved in distilled. sterilized
water, after which it is ready for ex-
pertinent upon the lower animals.
THE best method Of procedure for
the purpose of Vaccinating large ami
mails destined to produce anti-venom-
GUS serum consists in injecting them
from the outset with gradually increas-
| ing quantities of the venom mixed with
diminishing quantities of one in sixty
solution of hypOchlorite of lime. The
condition and variations in the weight |
of the animals are carefully followed |
in order that the injections may be |
made less frequently if the animals do
and stronger venom are in turn inject
ed, first considerably diluted and then
more concentrated, in order that the |
animals (hOrses) may give a serum
| equally active for the various sub
| stances which determine the various
| local actions it is necessary, when they
have already acquired a sufficiently |
perfect immunity, to inject the venoms
! derived from as large a number of diff
| ferent species of snakes as possible
| The duration of the treatment is of |
considerable length, at least year, be-
| fore the serum is sufficiently active to
be used for the purposes of treatment. |
cat the present time | have two |
horses in the stalls downstairs which |
are getting on we'll and which have |
gone through the above process of in
oculation with snake venom. In this |
particular | ohave been associated with |
DR.. E. NJ. Hanck, veterinary surgeon.
when the time arrives that the in
| jections of large amounts of snake ven
ON are accompanied with little eleva-
ton of temperature, and only a slight |
| Oedema is manifested at the sight of |
injection, a trial bleeding of twenty |
centimeterc of blood will be made, the |
| blood being taken from the jugular
vein. If the tests for antitoXic value |
are favorable the horse is bled large
quantity, the blood being collected in
sterile bottles and placed in a refriger-
ating room for sufficient time (about |
twentyfour hOurs) until coagulation
allows the clear serum, which contains |
the antitOXin, to separate. The serum
is drawn off by pipettes and preserved
by the addition of one-half of L per
cent. of a suitable chemical.
"As with thu yenoms, so with the
anti-yenOmS; L appointment is likely |
to meet the eXperimenter at the last |
minute. All the horses will not fur
nish the same degree of antitOxicity in
their serum, and the test upon rabbits
| will sometimes show that the serum |
from horse most carefully treated is |
weak.
although the anti-venomous serum
does not act directly upon the toxin, |,
but only through the cells, it begins 10 |
exert its influence Immediately after |
it is introduced into the body, of which |
the following experiment is a striking
demonstration. A rabbit, having re-
ceived intravenOusly two milligrams
of venom, two minutes later is inject
ed with five centigrams of the anti
venOmous serum in the vein of the OPP
posite ear. The animal showed no III
effects of the poison and has remained
perfectly we'll
This serum may be employed in hy-
podermic injections in all cases of bites
from venOmous snakes or scorpions,
and feel satisfied that it will neutral
ize the effects of the venoms of the va
rious species Of American snakes.
Even the most serious cases can al
ways be prevented and poisoning
checked if within an hour and a half
at the outside after the bite the serum
is injected into the veins"