Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-11-23
GETTING EVEN WITH SNAKES.
Medical Men Trying To Discover Anti
dote to NirnIent Poi-ons.

Medical Men Trying To Discover Anti
dOte to Eiruient Poisons.
The method pursued by medical sci
ence in It's 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 yiruler+ 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 a dan
ger that perhaps does not possess much
personal interest for dwellers in cities,
but If a 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 it's mountain rep ions and its
semitropic0l belt. and great many
thousand people would feel more com
Portable did they know that an ade-
quate antldote to their venom0us at
tacks existed
In the Bengal province of India the
statistics show that over a thousand
deaths occur from snake bites every
year, and in the other districts the
fatalities from the same cause are pro-
portionally more numerous The cob
RI is the principal offender. and as its
bite, unlike that of the rattlesnake and
most other veuomouS serpeuts. causes
II comparatively painless death, it may
he preferable to undergoing expert
ences with famine or buhouic plague.
Still. there are many other sections Of
the world where life is still regarded
Us worth living andy here the bites Of
poisonoTs serpents are very much
dreaded.
1t is stated that Or Marshall of the
pathological department Of the Uni
yerSity of Pennsylvania has allied him
self with scientists of Europe in the
attempt to discover an efficient anti
dotc. 1t Is proper that this enterprise
suits Of value are obtained the whole
hahi1abIc globe win become their bene-
tl,.iary and perhaps spots on Il not now
considered habtablc viii then become
So. pr Marshaii IL now in Europe
making his experiments but he has
enthusiastic co-Iaborcrs working for
| him AT tile university aua mt the store
| hoasc of the Philadelphia 100. 70 this
| latter post twice "a month representa-
| tiVcS of the university repair to milk
! the rattlesuakcs and other vcnonous
| specimens The snake j. thrott'ed so
| it IS impossible for him 10 use his
| fangS aud the poison sacs are then
pressed. yielding perhaps teaspoonful
OF yellovish venom When the entire
stock has bceu milkcd the snakes are
returned 10 he storchousc to sccrete a
new supply
| The product Is taken 20 the labora.
| tory. filtered and mixed with salt solu.
| lions until it crystatIizeS and is then
| consigned to llr Npr~llau I'm Europe
| who experiments upon guinea pigs
rabbits aud dogs TO test its toNicolog
| ical effects. Enough progress has been
made to learn that snake venom is not
Il simple poison, but is composed OF
several constituents of a proteid ma
urc, each of which acts on one tissue
class Of cells. The only human subject
upon which the anutoNu has beer
tested was the c0lorc4l ialitor of tht
zoo. who was bitten 10y an escaped
ratt'asuake and recovered 10y the us,
of the serum Svrpcnt~ viii never l.,
agreeable associates. but their neigh
borhood viii be robbed Of most Of IL.
terrors should this scientific quest at
tain completely successful issue
He hath poor spirit who is not
| planted above petty wror ss.-FeIt