Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-04-21
ANIMALS AND POISON.
Some Species Are Immune to the
Most Deadly Drugs.

4 WVSt Veduly UFugSs
MYSTERY OF THE HEDGEHOG.
This Bristly Little Creature Can Make
. Meal Of Arsenic or Opium and
Wash II Down With a Draft Of
Prussie Acid Without Discomfort. {.
Poison is surely one Of the most
weird Of natures bizarre contrivances.
A tiny speck Of an innocent looking
white powder on the tip Of the tongue
means instant death If that powder
happens to be the deadly drug aconi-
tine, A moments whiff Of unseen va
por, and II that vapor rises from pure
prussic acid all human aid Is too late.
The strangest fact about that curious
group Of bodies called poisons is that
sometimes they are not poisons. OF
course every one knows that when
kept under control by the skillful hand
Of the physician poisons are most val
liable medicines But few persons are
aware Of the still more curious fact
that poisons when taken BY certain an
finals even IN large quantities are quite
harmless. :s Il SO: IS
Yet strange as 1t may seem, this Is
perfectly true. Take, for instance, the
hedgehog. Thissbristiy little animal is
absolutely poison proof. It can eat;
without discomfort as much opium as
hardened, Chinese can smoke lin a
fortnight and can wash meal down
with as much prussic acid as would
kill a regiment sof soldiers. 1t is ca
pableso Of swallowing arsenic with just
as much relish as Hseats coekroaches.
It Is quite immune to the venom OF tie
snake, though the prickly hedgehog
has little need to fear the approach Of
such reptile. It has even been stated
that 1t can. swallow corrosive ssubli-
mate, and vet this is a virulent poison
which human beings must handle with
caution, for even a solution of it exter-
nally applied has been known to cause
death. fS q s i. 81. Is
Cyanide OF potassium is another
deadly substance of which the hedge
hog need have no fear, and yetfthe
tmerest trace Of the poison is sufficient
to cause full grown man to foam at
the mouth and lose the power Of his
limbs. Truly the hedgehog is a strange
freak, and yet not SO inexplicable as
the poisons by which he refuses to be
poisoned. 81
Man is said to resemble the monkey
In more ways than one; but, whatever
characteristics they may have In COM
mon, the ape differs from the human
being In this respect he can take with
IMMUNITY as much trychnine as would
kill two men instantly. The monkey,
curiously enough shares the Immunity
to strychnine poisoning with inverte-
tbrate animals. Another phenomenon is
the rat The number of rat poisons
sold by druggtstsis legion. but there Isl
one poison which never enters into
their composition namely, digitaIin,t
the active principle Of the foxgloye.
gOne-haf grain OF this poisonous prin-
ciple sufaces to kill man within three
quarters Of an hour, but the rat abso-
llutely refuses to let 1t kill him.
When it is discovered that human
being has swallowed oxalic acid, the
q first thing the doctor does is to give his
unfortunate patient a good dose Of
chalk, technically known as calcium
carbonate. Strange to relate, chickens
are not poisoned by oxalic acid, for the
simple reason that their intestines con-
tain the antid0te In the form Of guam
tides Of calcium, which combine with
the poison and render it quite harm
less. It IS interesting, however. to
mention that IL oxalic acid is injected
into the blood Of q fowl 1t would be
poisoned. It Is only when given by the
mouth that the acid comes in contact
with the antidOte. However, as chick
lens are not provided with hypodermic
isyringes, they are not likely to run any
danger.
e China were inhabited by pigeons
instead Of by people who speak pigeon
English, costly war and no end Of
controversy might have been ayerted,,
for pigeons are not demoralized by;
opium. You cannot put pigeon to
sleep with the 'drowsy giant simply
because there is something In the birds.
interior which resists the narcotic In
fuence of the morphine to which
opium owes its activity. s$ S4
Thers is little to connect the Russian
peasant with goat unless 1t is beard
yet nevertheless both have one trait
in common neither Is harmed by hem
lock. 1T was the juice Of the hemlock,
so we have been told until we are tired
of hearing 1t, that killed Socrates. Ever
since then It has been on the poison list
as far as civilized beings are concern
ed; but, all the same, roots Of henlock
are eaten as food by the Russian peas
ants and by goats. @ 5
In one respect the peasant of the
Austrian Tyrol resembles the hedge
hog, because he can take In one dose
as much arsenic as would kill several
Americans This Is not because the
peasant is provided with any special