Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-04-22

aad nc great regard either for cobras
or 6indcos, and re soon hunted out
the cobra and dispatched him forth
NTH.
STea the .Tsnomous cobra can be
made pet Of. minus. if one is rise,
bis fanfs and poison glands. and as
TOR the mongoose. ne Is one OF the most
Sompaptonabie OF wild beasts There
Is more Than one variety OF this animal,
and they vary in size according to their
breed ami geographical distribution
one of the most interesting psrs had
OF this kind was 1nongoose that was
sent me from the sultan of Lehei an
Arabian district some thirty miles from
our outpost on Aden. when / vas sta
toned in that very sultry locality. /
thought this Arabian variety vas small
sr than those had seen in India.
| Some people doubt If there can oe
any recovery from the full bite of
grown cobra. The poisonous bored
fanss Of this creature work on kind
of hinge and are folded back on the
{ roof of the mouth when the animal is
In repose. but when the cobra prepares
to strike the mere mechanism of the
/ upper jaw III opening the mouth raises
, these folded fangs. II the fangs then
hit the victim straight fancy recovery
must be very rare. But there is not al
ways full complement of poison in
the glands ut the root of the fangs, ana
every successive strike makes the
quantity less for the time being. Again,
| rho tnl, tI,,
ton of the virus before the skin Is
reached. and lastly the fangs may not
strike straight, and then they are cas-
liz doubled up Oh account of the joint
spoken of. SO thar in such instances the
front or outer portion of the fangs may
craze the skin with perhaps ITO poison
at all
remember strange thing happen
ing once regarding the bite of a snake
In Ii certain part of Baluchistan de-
| taclment was in search Of q new site
for temporary cantonlnent in place
OF the undesirable one we then had
| ground we were seated ut dinner in
side the mess tent, when sudden cry
was raised that one of the camp follow
ers had been bitten by snake almost
| Immediately outside the tent The
medical officer of the detachment. with
the knife he was at the time holding in
his hand rushed out at once The
wound was plain enough on the mans
bare leg.
lie led been, native fashion, squat
ting on the ground, and had been bit
ten on the outside tieshy portion OF the
leg few inches above The ankle. The
major at once made slash on each
side above and below the wound and
cut V shaped tid out of the poor
mans leg within few seconds of the
cry being raised. AS we had only gone
some dozen miles away from our pre-
| ytous headquarters and Us the detach-
ment was going on still farther the
man was sent in next morning in a
| dhoolie TO the hospital, where he lay
very III for some time, but eventually
recovered to certain degree. AS it
was nighttime and the other natives
got furried the snake unfortunately es-
| capped in the dark. SO | have always
wondered whether 1t was cobra ana
Ii the prompt excelsior saved the camp
| followers life.
Considering Thar over 20,O00-think
| of it-human lives are annually lost in
India from wild beasts, q very great
portion of which is from yenomous
snakes, it is al first surprising to see
the almost complete immunity of Eli
| ropeans from snake bites in that coun-
try. ii must be borne in mind, how
| ever, that there is only mere handful
Q20,oGO OF so) of Europeans in India
| altogether, as against the vast number
OF natives, approaching the stupendous
figures of a00,OO0,OOO.. The natives,
moreover, grope about In the dark and
ronm the jungles with bare feet and
often bare everything else, condition
of affairs that leaves them particularly
exposed to the bites Of snakes Be this
as it may, it Is seldom one hears of
| a death from snake bite among the Eu-
ropean portion of the Indian popuia-
tion.-Chambers' Journal.
I TrY,