The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-01-30
NOBILITY OF RATTLERS.
THE ONLY SNAKES THAT GIVE THEIR
VICTIMS a WARNING.

In This l.ospsot Americas Poisonous
Reptile Puts 90 Shame the Cobra OF
Indiu-Vrnnm which lnsurea AN Ensy
Death - NeutraliE ng snake Poisons.
Among the big glass cages anu the .
forest OF palms in the Geological park /
reptile house visitors we're 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 llnotted 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 80 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 enc Of the characteristics OF
the species" interrupted the snake
man. Harmless to look at Harmless
as far as pain goes, even In death, put
there never was a surer death than that
following the bite of the cobra. II Is
the quantity of the poison emitted from
Sc large a snake which makes the at
tack so fatal. Likewise the method
Of injecting the venom. 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 properly they hold on tight,
Ike the grip of a bulldog, giving the
poison time to be absorbed in the
blood.
There is no easier death than that
due to a cobra bite The poison con-
tains 95 percent OF nerve attacking
and 5 percent of blood destroying We
nom The victim, therefore, Is para
lyzed by inches, long insensibility and
thinking that he is on the road to re-
covery until the last. AS the end comes
he sinks into sleep so gently and
passes off so painlessly that frequent
ly wah physicians sitting by the bed
side, it is impossible to say just when
life quit the body.
unlike most poisonous snakes, the
q cobra lays eggs, which are Matched into
E, its young. AS a rule, 1t is only the
!. harmless snakes that lay eggs-fron
&C to 80 at a time-while, according
:. to a wise provision of nature, thu
young of the VenOmous reptiles ar
= born as in the case Of warm-bloodeC
= animals, in broods numbering only si1
J. or eight at a time.
S "The diamond-back rattle-snake, TO
II instance, brings its young to cart
q alive. The American RATHER, in a seal
II OF poisons, numbers only about third
IS the fer-de-lance of the West Indies, a
" we'll as the cobra, ranking before hin
,e The fangs of the rattler are long an
d. sharp as the bones Of shad. Dee
and quick they penetrate the victim
8 body, the sensation being as sligh
6. as the prick of needle until the pc
n. son begins to take effect, which
20 within five minutes. Contrary to tn
- cobras bites, the sting Of a RATHER el
v. tails tremendous suffering. Analyze
70 the venom contains 95 percent of bloot
* destroying and percent of nerve-d
Id stroying poison-directly opposite
that of a cobra. The consequence
that the victim dies with all the al
guish and pain of a full case of bloc
e. poisoning, all the suffering of pr
he tracted illness being crowded into Il
nd space of few hours.
Di "Of all snakes none is at bottom
in more noble reptile than that peculiar
~ our own country. Never yet has
all RATHER struck before giving warnin
he The signal, as is well-known, is EN-
it, ted from the rattles at the tail of t
lc- snake In sound it resembles the ia
for away rattle of a moving machine in
Ish country meadow or the Kissing EMIT
in by the escape of steam from an orr
too nary radiator.
lay Among the dangerous snakes of O
too own south, perhaps not another c
al come up to the cotton-mouth moccas
tn He is one Of the few poisonous wat
rs. snakes in existence. But the bite
ms almost as fatal as that of the raft
ate himself In the swamps and cal
&c brakes of North and South Carroll
/. the moccasin is at home. Here he /
awaiting anything that comes along
the fish line from frogs to minnows
inc "In the reptile house, when we hi