The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1904-12-22
GETTING EVEN WITH SNAKES.
Medical Men Trying To Discover Anti
dote to Viruleut Poisons.

Medical Men Trying To Discover Anti
dOte to Viru1ent Poisons.
The method pursued by medical sci.
ence in its treatment of the more fatal
diseases, Is to set back fires; that is,
use the cause of the malady to effect
its cure, says the Boston Transcript.
This is particularly true of those that
develop active and virulent poisons, or
more particularly the germ diseases.
This has now been brought forward TO
hopeful experimentation with the pois-
on Of venomous snakes. That is dam
ger that perhaps does not possess much
personal interest fo- dwellers in cities,
but if genuine antidote for the bites
of all kinds Of serpents from the cobra
to the copperhead could be discovered,
thousands of painful deaths in the old
world and the new could be annually
prevented. Even the United States
possesses its share of poisonous rep
tiles in Its mountain regions and it's
semitropical belt, and a great many
thousand people would feel more COM
Portable did they know that an ade-
quate antidote to their venomous at
tacks existed.
In the Bengal province of India the
statistics show that over a thousand
'teaths occur from snake bites every
year, and IN the other districts the
| fatalities from the same cause are pro-
| portionally more numerous. The cob
IN ic tho r,r;pcioal offopdar ond 30 az
bite. unlike that of the rattlesnake and
| most other venomous serpents, causes
a comparatively painless death. it may
be preferable to undergoing expert
ences with famine or bubonic plague.
Still, there are many other sections Of
the world where life is still regarded
as worth living and where the bites Of
| poisonous serpents are very much
| dreaded
| 1t is stated that DIR. Marshall Of the
pathological department of the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania has allied him.
self with scientists of Europe in the
attempt to discover an efficient anti
dote. 1t is proper that this enterprise
should be International, because if re-
suits of value are obtained the whole
habitable globe will become their bene-
ficiary and perhaps spots on 1t not now
considered habita5le will then become
so. Dr. Marshall is now in Europe
making his experiments, but he has
enthusiastic co-laborers working for
him at the university and at the store
house of the Philadelphia zoo. To this
latter post twice month representa-
lives of the university repair to 'milk''
| the rattlesnakes and other venomous
| specimens The snake is throttled so
it is impossible for him to use his
| fangs end the poison sacs are then
pressed, yielding perhaps teaspocnful
| Of yellowish venom. When the entire
stock has been MIXED the axes are
returned to the storehouse to secrete a
new supply.
| The product is taken to the labora-
| tory, filtered and mixed with salt solu-
| tons until it crystaliizes and is then
| consigned to DIR. Marshall in Europe,
| who experiments upon guinea pigs,
| rabbits and dogs to test it's toxicolog-
| ical effects. Enough progress has been
made to learn that snake venom is not
| simple poison, but is composed of
several constituents of proteid ma
| ture, each Of which acts on one tissue
| class Of cells. The only human subject
upon which the antitoxin has been
| tested was the colored janitor of the
zoo, who was bitten by an escaped
| rattlesnake and recovered by the use
| Of the serum. Serpents will never be
| agreeable associates, but their neigh
| borhood will be robbed Of most of its
terrors should this scientific quest at
| tain a completely successful Issue.