Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-02
C0BRAS AND RATTLERS
HOW PoISoNS OF VARIOUS
SNAKES AFFECT VICTIMS.
One Kind Paralyzes by Inches, Entail
ing Pleasant Death-Rattler's
Sting Produces Agony.
From the New York Mail and Express.

Among the big glass cages and the forest
of palms in the geological park reptile
house visitors were listening to a snake
mans impromptu lecture on the deadliness
of the various snake poisons. In front of
the huge cage Of the cobra the party halted.
Within, tail knotted around the tip Of the
cage tree, body resting partly coiled on the
palm leaf bungalow and head resting on
the floor, lay Magma, brownish gray, the
splendid 14-foot specimen, said to be the
finest of her kind in captivity.
Doesn't look SO wicked" suggested one
of the men. Take the rattlers over in the
corner and whether you knew they were
rattlers or not you could see the poison in
their eyes. But this chap
That's one of the characteristics Of the
Species" interrupted the snake man. Harm
less as far as pain goes, even in death, but
there never was surer death than that
Following the bite Of the cobra. 1t Is the
quantity of poison emitted from so large a
snake which makes the attack SO fatal
Likewise the method Of ejecting the VEN
om The fangs of the cobra are short. In
the case Of the RATHER and the other vipers
the fangs are long. A quick slash buries
the poison at a depth where 1t Is sure to
enter the blood. But all the cobraS have
short fangs and to inject the venom prop
erly they hold on tight, like the grip of a
bulldog, giving the poison time to be alb
sorbed into the blood.
An Easy Death.
'"There is no easier death than that due
to a cobra bite. The poison contains 90 per
cent Of nerve-attacking and per cent OF
blood-destroying venom. The victim, there
fore, is paralyzed by inches, losing sensi-
bility and thinking that he is on the road to
recovery until the last. AS the end comes he
sinks into sleep so gently and passes off so
painlessly that frequently, with physicians
sitting by the bedside, it is impossible to-
say just when life quit the body. Unlike
most poisonous snakes, the cobra lays eggs,
which are Matched into its young. AS a
rule, it is only the harmless snake that
lays eggs-from 60 to so at time-while,
according to a wise provision Of nature,
the young of the venomous reptiles are
born as in the case Of warm-blooded ami
mails, in broods numbering only six or eight
at time.
1.-THE diamond-back rattlesnake, for in
stance, brings it's young to earth alive. The
American RATHER, In scale Of poiSons
numbers only about third, the fer-de-lance
Of the West Indies, as well as the cobra,
ranking before him. The fangs of the rat
tier are long and sharp as the bones of q
shad. Deep and quick, they penetrate the
victims body, the sensation being as slight
as the prick of a needle until the poison
begins to take effect, which Is within five
minutes.
4AIcuSc 0uuSIluS.
Contrary to the cobras bite, the sting of
a RATHER entails tremendous suffering. An
alyzed, the venom contains 95 per cent of
Notwithstanding and per cent Of nerve
destroying poison-directly opposite to that
of cobra. The consequence Is that the
victim dies with all the anguish and pain
Of full case Of blood poisoning, all the
suffering Of a protracted illness being
crowded into a space of few hours
"Of all snakes none Is at bottom a more
noble reptile than that peculiar to our own
country. Never yet has a RATHER struck
before giving warming. The signal, as is
the tail Of the snake. In sound it resembles
the far-away rattle of a moving machine in
a country meadow or the kissing emitted
by the escape Of steam from an ordinary
radiator. Among the dangerous snakes Of
our own south perhaps not another can
come up to the cotton-mouth moccasin. He
Is one of the few poisonous water snakes
in existence. But his bite Is almost as fatal
as that of the RATHER himself. In the
swamps and canebrakes of North and South
Carolina the moccasin Is at home. Here he
lies awaiting anything that comes along In
the fish line, from frogs to minnows.
Baby Moccasins.
'Tn the reptile house, when we have a
brood of young rattlers or baby moccasins,
every possible care is taken in their han
ding The youngsters require more care
than their older kind. 1t Is necessary to
change their water oftener and feed them
at shorter intervals In large glass box
showing plainly from all sides where the
little ones are located the babies are kept.
The snake man detailed to handle them Is
provided with long forceps. After opening
the door with care 1t is necessary to remove
some of the brood near the water or the
food trough to be cleaned One or two of
the reptiles are picked up between the thin
forelegs of the instrument and thrown into
a heap in the farther corner of the cage
There it Is amusing to watch their wrath at
having been disturbed. The little ones coll
into a spiral, their heads are extended, and
with the tiny tail, yet unpossessed of
rattlers. they perform a tremolo, as If
warning the intruder away.
"As to chemical analysis Of cobra poisons
a curious fact is that two substances hav-
ing almost identically the same chemical