The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1905-01-18
|DREAD GILA MONSTER.
NUMBERS INCREASE AND THEY
CAUSE MANY DEATHS.

That the Gila monster Is the most
dangerous creature to human life in
the desert regions of the southwest,
and that there is no remedy known to
science which will act as an antidote
to its poison, Is the opinion OF Prof.
| William Wetherbee. who for nearly a
year has been making a scientific
study of this reptile in the interests of
Experiments which for some time have
been prosecuted by the state Of Cali
fornia.
To prove his assertion that death
ensues in almost every instance where
| the poison of that creature enters the
human system, Prof. Wetherbee gives
| the results of his long soiourn in the
deserts of Arizona and California,
where during twelve months of expert
ment twenty cases come under his no.
tice, all but three of which ended ia
tally. Since the thinning out of the
Indians the Gila monster is rapidly in
creasing in number, and is becoming a
serious menace to life in those regions.
During the last two years five little
children, four women. seven half
breeds and Indians have fallen victims
of the elias bite. and it is probable
| that there are other cases which have
never been heard of. Several of the
| fatalities occurred during the swelter-
ing summer weeks that | was with
Prof Wetherbee.
O. l,1 ., fop
that President Diaz has been asked to
use his influence in discovering the
remedy which has long been known to
exist among the Hualipis, Mexican
| tribe of Indians who have always kept
their antidote a secret and have baf-
! heu the attempts of many scientists
to secure it, among them the famous
DR.. Shufeldt. This is not the first
time that President Diaz has been in
terested in the matter Of securing
remedy for the elias bite. A number
of years ago the medical authorities of
California asked him to secure the pre-
scription used among the Hualipis,
and it is said that not only did Diaz
| detail special officers to the work, but
when they failed, the president went
personally among the Hualipis in his
efforts to secure the antidote. Be
cause of a superstitious belief that the
remedy, which is also said to be eff
cacious in combating the fatal eff
| fects of rattlesnake poison, was di-
rect blessing from their gods, and
| In
fused to disclose it. Afterward. Shu-
feldt and several California physicians
went personally among the Indians,
but with as little success. That an
antidote must be found is realized by
both the medical authorities of Cali
fornia and Arizona. The regions in
tested by the "mottled terror" are
rapidly becoming inhabited, and each
year sees a big increase in the white
population. For many years, perhaps
for hundrsds of them. the Pima, Apa-
che, Maricopah and Yuma Indians,
who little feared the bites of rattle
snakes or centipedes, waged cautious
and systematic war of determination
against the Gilas. but as these tribes
have thinned out the monsters" have
increased admiringly, until there are
now some places where scores of them
may be met with in single day.
| With the increasing population of
white people, the majority of whom
as yet bear no especial enmity toward
the Gila, it is thought that the annual
| ;aA bD; nil Il
ly grow.
To prosecute his experiments Prof.
Wetherbee followed the course of the
Gila river, where the monsters have
always been found in the greatest num-
ber. For weeks at time he watched the
reptiles in their natural homes before
attempting to capture them. In his
cabin near Castle Dome mountains he
at one time had so of them captive,
and it was then that he succeeded in
securing for the first time enough poi
son to experiment with. Irritating
| the creatures, he succeeded in getting
them to bite viciously at the edge of
! a thin plate, where the poison gradu-
ally accumulated in the form of
thick, syrupy secretion. In contrast
to most serpent venoms, which are
acid, the Gilas' poison was of an aka
line nature. During these expert
ments one of the reptiles caught
Mexican assistant by the thumb.
Screaming with terror. the man beat
the creature frantically against the
side of the cabin, until Prof. .Wether-
bee secured a knife and chopped it in
two. Every stimulant and remedy at
hand were in turn employed, but the
| Mexican gradually fell into a stupor,
and within twenty minutes was dead.
| The Gila is about eighteen inches in
length and in girth about the size of a
boys arm. It's tail is one-third the
length Of the body. and it has mot
tied skin in reddish yellow and dark
brown. It's mouth is similar in shape
to that of an alligator, and its little
black eyes have the sleepy appearance
of those of the alligator family. 1t
weighs from three to four pounds. 1t
has four stubby legs shaped and
placed like those of lizard. but it
4 .l,o of hot nj