Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1903-06-30

OF Inc university Oh GoHHS! dild w
aid in the investigation of snake poi
son which is going on there.
Upon lines that Doctor S. Weir
Mitchell suggested, Doctor Simon
Flexner and Doctor Hideyo Noguchl
have been studying at the university
for two years the venom Of cobras,
rattlesnakes and other poisonous rep
tiles.
Highly interesting are the expert
ments that in the course of their work
these two scientists have made. They
believe that it is possible in time
70 discover for each kind OF venom
ali antldOte.
The chlorofOrming of a snake and
he extraction of its poison while i
lies unconscious are operations fie-
quently performed and interesting t.
see.
The snake is inst seized with las
so about The middle. The Iasso is q
leather loop at the end of 3 stick like
Il brGomstiek, and the tight enins of
the 1eGp holds the snake securely
After it is caught its head is pin
ned down 10 q table with a notclea
stick that is p.e5sed upon It's meek.
tube enc and one-half inches in
diameter, containing a sponge saturat-
ed with chloroform is Slipped ever
the snakes head. as q glove is slio
ped ON a finger, and scon the reptile
is unconscious.
An assistant then SEXES it by the
neck and slips the edge Of saucer
nnder its upper jaw in such a manner
as to elevate the two fangs
These fangs now lie, as it were,
upon the saucer. The ope} ator takes
thumb and forefinger of his right
hand and strips them forward
squeezes them, that is to say. from
the base to the tip--and thus all their
venom is extracted.
This venom. yellow, and Of the
thickness OF molasses, runs out upon
vial and sealed up.
In the experiments with live ami
mails that the university carries on
it is thought best to inject the venom
hypodermically rather than to allow
the snake itself to do the injecting
in the ordinary manner with its fangs
because a snake does not always
strike effectively. Sometimes it fails
to elevate it's fangs sufficiently to in
ject into its victim more than a drop
Or two of venom.
Sometimes it strikes fercely and it's
teeth are actually fastened for mo-
ment in the animals flesh. but the
fangs are doubled backward. and not
"A drop of venom is injected into the
wound
Yet, to all appearances, the bite has
been a terrible one, and an expert
ment, administering to the wounded
animal a certain antidote would de-
eide that this antidote was a mar
velously potent one--would hold it to
have cured the animal immediately
when, as a matter of fact. there would
have been nothing the matter with
lhe animal from the beginning.
On small animals the effect of
small dose of venom is almost inn
mediately fatal. pigeon. for in
stance. on receiving an injection of
three or four drops. walks a few
steps, crouches. gasps, rolls over on
its side and in one or two minutes,
sometimes in less lnan one minute, is
stone dead.
On larger animal. such as a dog.
Ihe poison does not act so powerfully.
A thirty y-nine-pound bull terrier was
lowered into rattlesnake's cage and
was bitten on the right leg near the
thigh.
The bite was a thorough one. The
dog whined little after it was drawn
up, moped awhile and in fifteen minu
tes was so weak that it had to lie
aiown,
AT the end of twenty-five minutes it
sconld rise when bidden, though it was
growing weaker. At the end of fifty
minutes it had lost all power over its
hind legs At the end of eighty min
ntes its breathing was labored. At
she end of three hours it was dead.
\ man-one of the attendants-Was
bitten by a rattle" at the university
10y accident In few minutes he be-
-came sick at the stomach and very