The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-23
AMERICAN RATHER
HE Is NOBLE ENOUGH ALWAYS
TO GIVE WARMING.


Among the big glass cages ana tue Ao'
est of palms In the Geological PARK rep
tile house visito-o were listening 70
snake mans impromptu lecture on the
dea dIiness OF the various snake poisons.
In front OF the huge cage OF the COBRA
the party halted. Within, tall knofted
around the tip Of the cage tree, oody
resting partly octied on the palm lear
bungalow and head resting on the noor'
lay Naigina. brewnish gray. the SPLEEN
did fourteen-foot specimen, SAID 10 DO
the finest of her kind in captivity.
vDoesnt look 90 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.
Harmless to look at. Harmless 80 far as
pain goes. even in death, but there never
was a surer death than that following
the bite Of the cobra. 1t ID the quantity
of the poison emitted from so large
snake which makes the attack 30 fatai.
Likewise the method Of injecting the
venom. The fangs Of the COBRA are snort.
In the case Of the RATHER and other vtp-
ers the fangs are long. A quick SLASH
buries the poison at. depth where It IL
sure to enter the blood. But all the CO.
bras have short fangs. and to inject the
venom properly they hold on tight, like
the grip of a bulldog. giving the poison
time to be absorbed In the blood.
There IL no easier death than that
due to a cobra bite. The poison contains
95 per cent. Of nerve-attacking and per
cent. Of misunderstanding venom. The
victim, therefore, Is paralyzed by inches,
losing sensibility and thinking that he ID
on the road to recovery until the last
AS the end comes he sinks into sleep 30
gently and passes of 80 paAnlessiy that
frequently. with physicians sitting by the
bedside, 1t Is impossible to say just when
life quit the body.
.'Unadke most poisonous snakes the
cobra lays eggs, which are Matched into
Its young. AS rule. 1t Is only the harm
less snake that lays eggs-from sixty tc
eighty at a time-while. according to q
wise provision of nature, the young o.
the venomous reptiles are born. as IL
the case of warm-blooded animals, II
broods numering only six or eight at 1
time.
THE diamond-back rattlesnake for in
stance, brings Its young to earth alive
The American RATHER, in scale OF pol
sons, numbers only about third, the fer
defiance of the West Indies. as well a!
the cobra, ranking before him. The fang
of the RATHER are long and sharp as the
bones of a shad. Deep and quick they
penetrate the victims body. the sensa
ton being as slight as the prick Of
needle until the poison begins to TAXI
effect, which 10 within Ave minutes. Con
trary to the cobra's bite, the sting o.
| a RATHER entails tremendous suffering
Analysed, the venom contains 95 per cent
of blood-desroying and 5 per cent. o
| nerve-destroying poison-directly oppo
site to that of a cobra. The consequence
is that the victim dies with all the an
| suIish and pain Of a full case Of blood poi
| soning all the suffering of protracte'
| illness being crowded into the space o
a few hours.
"Of all snakes none is at bottom NOR
noble reptile than that peculiar to on
| own country Never yet has a rattle
struck before warning. The signal. a
| is we'll known, is emitted from the rat
ties at the tail Of the snake. In sound
resembles the far-away rattle Of NOV
ing machine in a country meadow or tn
kissing emitted by the escape OF stear
from an ordinary radiator.
Among the dangerous snakes OF GU
own South, perhaps not another can com
up to the cotton-mouth moccasin. He
one of the few poisonous water snakes Il
existence. But his bite IL almost as fata
as that OF the rattler himself In tn
swamps and canebrakes of North an
South Carolina the moccasin n at horne
Here he lies awaiting anything tina
comes along in the fish line, from frog
| to minnows.
I'm the reptile house. when we have
brood Of young rattlers or baby mecca
sins, every possible care Is taken In thei
| handling The youngsters require NOR
care than their older kind. 1t Is neces
sary to change their water oftener an
to feed them at shorter intervals. In
large glass box showing plainly from al
sides where the little ones are located tn
babies are kept. The snake man de
| tailed to handle them Is provided witt
long forceps. After opening the door witt
care it Is necessary to remove some
the brood near the water or the foo
trough to be cleaned. One or two OF tn
reptiles are picked up between the thii
fore legs of the instrument and throw
into a heap in the farther corner Of tn
cage. There 1t Is amusing to watch thei
wrath at having been disturbed. Tn
little ones coil into a spiral, their head
are extended and with the tiny tall, Al
vet unpossessed of rattles, they perform
| a tremolo, as IL warning the intrude
away.
| "As to a chemical analysis Of cobr'
poisons a curious fact Is that two sub
| stances having almost identically tn
same chemical compositions can have ef
| fects SO different on the human system
to represent on the one hand the bes
| supporter OF life and on the other tn
| quickest termination of the same. The al
bumen or white of an egg and the poison
he IND