The Dickinson press., 1901-02-09
BITTEN By a NEVILLO
ONE or THE TERRoRs or LIFE ON
THE. tsTHMus or TEHuAhTEPEc.

q > Ef0A Who're Deadly Poison
Only One Man II Known to Have
Recovered-TAe Treatment whiehI
saved Hin Fron Death.
II guess am the only living man
that has been bitten by the neville, a
venomous. lizard Of the isthmus OF
Tehuantepec," said William w. Gloon,
ia New Yorker with Central American
experiences. ''This lizard is of the ella
monster family and is a horrid looking
reptile Of a mottled liver color and
is from six to ten inches long. Its bite
is deadly. aud. as I said. l am the only
person known who has lived after be-
Ing bitten. 1t was a case Of nip and
tuck, though, and didn't get over It
for two months or more.
''The brute bit me out Of pure malice,
for I wasn't doing a thing to it. l had
q coffee plantation dos, on the 18th.
mus several years ~ and just be-
fore the hot season began. which was
in March, l had as my guest DIR. Fer
gus Macdonald Of the Smithsonian
institution. who was in that country in
the interest of science. While he was
with me we received an invitation to
visit the great plantation Of DR.. Pedro
Arguilles, n Of the most prominent
men Of that country, and we went to
his hacienda near Minititlan. The
ladies' Of the family had all gone to
Mex.1o City. and as the weather was
hot we men loafed around in our py-
jamas, the upper garment Of which Is
a big sleeved affair called q camisa.
"One day DR.. Macdonald and l had
adjourned to the patio or court of the
building, and while I lay in the grass
talking to him he was busy greasing
and putting into shape his guns and
revolvcrs. He was six or eight feet
away from me, and l was lying with
my head propped up on my arm. from
which the sleeve had slipped. leaving it
exposed to the elbow. which rested on
the grass. OF curse neither Of us was
thinking about reptiles or other dan
gers right there in the court of the
building. Suddenly, as l talked, the
doctor threw his hand up in warning,
and l knew that whatever 1t was he
saw there was danger in my moving,
and l must keep still. So I kept as
steady as ! could, and then 1 felt some.
thing go up my arm toward my head
and stop near my wrist.
II couldn't see what it was. but l
knew something about tropical reptiles
and ! kept perfectly quiet while the
doctor caught up one of his revolvers
and threw n couple Of cartridges. into
1t. He aimed across my body and fired,
and as ! Jumped to my feet a neville
at least sever inches long fell writhing
to the ground, shot through the head.
The bullet had gone on into my arm
and came out at the elbow and l was
bleeding. Between the bullet marks,
though. were the fang marks where the
neville had stuck its teeth into my arm,
and told the doctor ] thought 1t had
got me. As soon as he saw 1t he gave
me some kind Of a hypodermic injec.
ton In the left leg, the right arm hav-
ing been bitten. and at once took his
knife and slashed me across the fang
marks. Into the wounds of my arm
he poured 8 bottle Of concentrated
ammonia. Almost instantly after |
had been bitten began to grow dizzy
and to see what seemed to me to be
clouds Of light smoke. and when the
ammonia struck me ! keeled owe in q
dead faint. l
give days later l awoke in a mud
bath by the riverside, my body twice
its normal size and my tongue sticking
out Of my mouth. They had carried
me there as loon as l tainted, and
night and day my guide and his daugh-
ter had been watching by me-, with
fires at night to keep of the animals
from the jungle. Every IL hours my
arm was lifted from the mud and
%cleansed, and on these occasions 1t was
always found to be Of a green color.
AS soon as | returned to consclouspess
| was carried to the house aud put to
bed, and there for two weeks re-
manned and then went down to the
coast and up to the we'll known hot
springs. where I was treated for two
months until every bit of the venom
had left my body. During it all l suf-
fered no pain. nor have l ever felt the
slightest Inconvenience since. What
effect the bullet wound in the arm had
! don't know. Possibly the blood that
came from the bullet wounds saved
me. Anyhow something happened that
never happened to any other person
bitten by neville, or l wouldn't be
here to tell the story"
Mr.. Gloon barred his arm for the ben