Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-18
THE POISON OF SNAKES
STUDY OF EFFECTS IN SEEKING
FOR ANTIDoTEs.
Search for Antidote for Venom Of the
Rather, Cobra, Viper and
Other Reptiles.

From the New York Tribune.
The Carnegie Institute has granted 81 .0p0
to the pathological laboratories OF the Unf-
versity of Pennsylvania to aid in the invea-
tigation of snake poison which is going On
there.
Upon lines that DR.. s. Weir Mitchell sug-
gested. Or. Simon Flexner and DIR. Hideyo
Noguchi have been studying at the uni
versfty for two years the venom Of cobras.
rattlesnakes and other poisonous reptiles.
Highly interesting are the experiments that
in the course OF their work these two SCI
entists have made They believe that II Ia
possible in time to discover for each kind
of venom an antidote.
The chloroforming of a snake and the
extraction of its poison while It Hes UNI
conscious are operations frequently per-
formed and interesting to see. The snake
is first seized with a lasso about the mid
die. The lasso is leather loop at the end
of stick like a broomstick. and the tight
ening of the loop holds the snake securely.
After 1t is caught. its head is pinned down
to table with notched stick that is
pressed upon its neck. A tube and
one-half inches in diameter. containing a
sponge saturated with chloroform. Is slip
ped over the snakes head as a glove is
slipped on finger. and soon the reptile
is unconscious An assistant then sezes
IT by the neck. and slips the edge of sau-
Ger under Its upper jaw In such manner
as to elevate the two fangs. These fangs
now lie, as IL were. upon the saucer. The
operator takes them, one at a time. be-
tween the 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
the saucer and 1t is gathered in a vial and
sealed up.
Experiments With Animals.
In the experiments with live animals that
the university carries 1t 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 snake does not always
strike effectively. Sometimes II fails to ele-
vate it's fangs sufficiently to inject iat0
its victim more than drop or two OF
venom. Sometimes 1t strikes fiercely and
it's teeth are actually fastened for mo-
nenta in the animals flesh. but the fangs
doubled backward, and not a drop OF
venom is injected into the wound. Yet, to
all appearances the bite has been a terri
BILE one. and experimental, administer
ing to the wounded animal a certain an
tidote. would decide that this antidote was
a marvelously potent one-would hold IL
to have cured the animal Immediately
when, a matter of fact, there would
have been nothing the matter with the
animal from the beginning.
On small animals the effect of small
dose of venom is almost Immediately fatal.
A pigeon, for instance. on receiving an
injection of three or four drops, walks
few steps crouches, gasps, rolls over On
it's side, and in one or two minutes. some-
times in less than one minute. Is stone
dead.
Bull Dog Dies From Bite.
On a larger animal, such as dog, the
poison does not act so powerfully. thir-
ty-one- pound bull terrier was lowered into
a rattlesnake's cage and was bitten on ths
right leg near the thigh. The bite was a
thorough one. The dog whined a little
after 1t was drawn up. moped while. and
in fifteen minutes was so weak that II had
to lie down. AT the end of twenty-five
minutes it could rise when hidden. though
it was growing weaker. At the end OF
fifty minutes 1t had lost all power over its
hind legs At the end of eighty minutes
it's breathing was labored. AT the END OF
three hours it was dead
A man-one of the attendants-was bitten
by RATHER at the university by accident
In few minutes he became sick at the
stomach and very weak. His face paled,
cold sweat broke out on him. his breathing
was hurried and his pulse feeble. This was
the first stage of the attack, and In 1T the
wound itself gave no pain. In the second
stage-the stage of recovery-the wound
was painful The case of this man was
typical He pulled through without
trouble.
The physicians experiments have shown
SO far that the antidotes usually recon-
mended for snake bite are almost worthless.
They regard alcohol taken internally. as
very valuable-not as an antidote, but as a
stimulant. Persons bitten by snakes can
take extraordinary quantities of whisky
or brandy-two quarts, say, in an hour
without exhibiting sign of drunkenness.
On animals alcohol has been tried as "A
stimulant with good effect In every case
1t has done much to tide the victim over the
stage of prostration that follows the snakes
bite.
The Ligature.
The remedial agent that Is of the greatest
known value is the intermittent ligature-
the tight band. drawn about the wounded
limb, that is loosened for an instant at
stated intervals, thus allowing the poison
to enter the system gradually in tiny guam
titles The system combats the poison well
where the intermittent ligature is used; ana
alcohol, given each time the band is
loosened. helps much to counterfeit the
weakening effect of the entering venom.
One experiment proves that the mechan-
ism which controls the act of striking in
the rattlesnake lies in the spinal cord. A
snakes head was cut off, and then the
physicians assistant pnched its tail. In
Stantly the neck darted back like lightning
and struck the mans hand a hard blow.
This action has often been credited to the
beheaded rattlesnake. but usually with a
skeptical sheer. Prof Brewer Of Yale
claimed that years ago he was in California
and had his tripod and other surveyors in
struments in the field. Stepping along in
the bushes he felt movement under his
feet, and found that he standing on a
four and one-half foot rattlesnake-a large,
vicious and fighting fellow But the snake
was so pinioned that he could not strike
the thick boot that held him fast Prof.
Brewer held the rattler's head down with
his tripod and cut 1T off. Then he cut off
his rattles Stepping aside, he the
body of the snake, partly coiled, lying very
still. Taking out his rule to measure its
length. the professor took hold of the SER
pent to straighten him out.
Quick electric shock" said Prof.
Brewer, that headess snake brought the
neck over and struck hard blow upon the
back of my hand" He added: Il knew that
his head was off and that he could not
poison me. but that quick and hard blow
of~the RATHER made my hair stand on end"
Snake poison, taken into the stomach. is
as harmless bread Snakes have been
made to swallow their own venom. and no
evil results have followed. Injected into
the blood, however, a snakes venom viii
kill another snake-wil even kill itself.