The Holly chieftain., 1901-07-26
VACCINATION FOR
RATTLESNAkE BITE

'-ph'e sSltutlnc experiments tisit are
now being made regarding the possibil-
lily of immuning animals and human
beings from the toxic effects Of snake
bites. particularly that Of the Ameri-
can rattlesnake. are of the greatest in
terest to those states and sections
where such dangers prevail. This is
true In Colorado in some sections.
The bites Of rattlesnakes not only deci-
mate the herds of cattle and horses but
are standing menace to life. Some
OF the experiments are being made by
the government and some by privatei in
ulVlduals. Areport on some of the eX-
periments will be made ut the coming
convention Of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science in this
city and the question will be freely dis
cusSed, as the topic is one that admits
OF a number of views. In general it Is
however admitted that horses can be
lmmuned from the bite and poison or
a rattlesnake and thus is deduced the
theory that man can likewise. As yet
no one has volunteered to be the horri-
ole example. but scientists are patient
and long enduring.
one great difficulty has stood in the
way Of experiments of i:nmuning
'''' ''N'' iiUth N'ilplf vi lHt
snake. When the famous Calmette
made his experiments oh venomous
seipents the American rattIesnake was
not on his list Had he used one of
these snakes he would have had a Sc
rious check from the start. In inject
ing the venom of Il rattlesnake into the
veins of a horse it was found that the
greatest degree of local irritation fol-
lowed which ,tn nl
that tile experiment would disclose.
The expcrimentcrs then tried heating
the venom. AT 20 degrees Calmetti
found that all of the irritating effect of
the venom of a cobra was lost The
same heating by the American expert
mentcrs of the venom of n rattlesnnke
disclosed the fact that it then lost all
its toxic properties 1t was found nee
essary to inject the dried venom In its
normally active condition. The injec-
tons were given simultaneously and
We're followed by enormous edemata,
necroses and sloughS. so that after de-
ternining that no immunity to the
local action developed this method was
abandoned and the intravenous used.
1t has been shown that after this
method the interior of the vessels
Sh'"N''i hO siEus VI NCuust tut
well-diluted venom met with greater
dilution in the circulating blood. No
local or other irritative disturbances
followed the intravenous injection, but
the nervous Impression was profound;
the horse often fell and remained un-
conscious for several minutes. Two of
the three horses died before antivenine
developed from the damage to the tis-
sues as a result of the irritation pro-
duced by the subcutaneous injection.
Antivenine was obtained from the
third animal. 1t met death. however.
from an accidental entrance OF the
venom injection into the jugular vein.
The antivenine obtained was injected
into a rabbit, two centimeters and it
protected the animal against full
dose of the rattlesnake venom. From
this is deduced the theory that people
can be immuned from snake-bite poi
son. but the practical method of OBJ
tanning the antivenine with n surety.
and the absence of practical expert
ments on human being leaves the
matter in the ranks of theory.