Gilpin observer., 1901-02-07
BITTEN BY A NEVILLO
ONE OF JAE TERRoRs OF LIFE ON
THE IsTAMUs CT TEHuANTEeEC.
a Lizard From Whose Deadly Poison
Only One Man Is Known 50 HIVE
ErcovcrcG--The Treatment h.cs
Saved Kin, rrom Ecath.


Only One Man Is Known 50 HIVE
ErcovcrcG--The Treatment y h.ca
Saved Kim, From Ecath.
81 guess am the only living mal
that has been bitten by the uevillo.
venomous lizard of the is,hmus OF
Tehuantepec." said William w. Gloon
q New Yorker with Central American
; experiences This lizard is Of the ella
monster family and is n horiid looking
reptile of notified liver color and
is from six to ten inches long. Its bite
Is deadly, aud. as said. | am the only
person known who has lived after be-
, ing bitten. 1t was n case of nip and
tuck, though, and didn't get over it
for two months or more.
1.-The brute bit me out of pure malice.
for wasn't doing thing to it. had
a coffee plantation down on the 18TH
mus several years ago and Just be-
fore the hot season began. which was
in March, | had as my guest Dr. 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, one 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
Mexico City. and as tie weather was
| jamas. the upper garment Of which is
big sleeved affair called camisa.
"Cne day DIR. Macdonald and had
adjourned to the patio or court Of the
building, and while lay in the grass
talking to him he was busy greasing
and putting into shape his guns and
revolvers. He was six or eight feet
away from me. and was lying with
my head propped up on my arm. from
which the sleeve had slipped. lea wing it
exposed to the elbow, which rested on
the grass. OF course 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 | knew that whatever it was he
saw there was danger in my moving,
and l must keep still. So kept as
steady as could. and then l felt some
/ thing go up my arm toward my head
ana stop near my WflSt.
~ couldn't see what 1t was. but l
knew something about tropical reptiles
and kept perfectly quiet while the
| doctor caught up ore of his rcvolvers
and threw couple of cartridges into
| 1t. He aimed across my body and fired,
and as l jumped to my feet neville
at least seven inches long fell writhlng
| to the ground, shot through the head.
| The bullet lad gone on into my arm
and came out ut the elbow and was
bleeding. Between the bullet marks.
though. were the fang marks where the
neville had stuck its teeth into my arm.
and told he doctor thought 1t had
| got me. As soon as he saw 1t he gave
me some kind Of n hypodermic injec-
tion In the left leg the right arm hav-
| ing been bitten. and Mt once tool. his
knife and slashed me across the fang
marks. Into the wounds OF my arm
he poured 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 | keelcd over In n
| dead faint.
give days later awoke in mud
bath by the riverside. my body twice
Its nocmal size and my tongue sticking
out of my mouth. They had carried
me there rs soon as | tainted, and
night and day my guide and his dlugh
ter had been watching by me. with
fires at night No keep Off the animals
| from the jungle. Every II hours my
/ t,n al
cleansed. and on these occasions 1t wns
always found to he of green color.
AS soon as returned to consciousness
| was carried to the house and put to
bed, and there for two weeks ! re-
maincd and then went down to the
coast and up to the well known hot
springs. where | was treated for two
months until every bit of the venom
had left my body. During II all | suf-
fered no pain. nor have | 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 | wouldn't be
here to tell the story"
Mr.. Gloon barred his arm for the ben
eft of the listeners. and If an arm ever
looked as II IT had been through hard
campaign that one did. 1t was Scared
as IL burnt With hot irons ana covered
from the elbow down with all kinds of
peculiarly shaped mottled spots of
about the same color as the lizard
New York Sun.
Located the Noise.