The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1907-10-10


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.
imals even in large quantities are quite
harmless
Yet, strange as it may seem, this is
perfectly true. Take, for instance, the
hedgehog. This bristly little animal Is
absolutely poison proof. II can eat
without discomfort as much opium as
hardened Chinese can smoke In a
fortnight and can wash a meal down
with as much Drussic acid as would
kill a regiment Of soldiers 1t is ca
pable Of swallowing arsenic with just
as much relish as 1t eats cockroaches.
II is quite immune to the venom Of the
snake. though the prickly hedgehog
has little need to fear the approach Of
such a reptile. II has even been stated
that 1t can swallow corrosive subli-
mate. and yet this is a virulent poison
which human beings must handle with
caution. for even a solution Of 1t exter-
nally applied has been known to cause
death
Cyanide Of potassium Is another
deadly substance OF which the hedge
hog need have no fear. and yet the
merest trace Of the poison Is sufficient
to cause a 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 polsons by which he refuses to be
poisoned.
Man Is said TO resemble the monkey
in more ways than Que; but, whatever
characteristics they may have in com
mon. the ape differs from the human
being In this respect-he can take with
lmpunity as much strychnine as would
kin two men instantly. The monkey
curiously enough. shares the immunity
to strychnine poisoning with Inverte
brate animais Another phenomenon Is
the rat. The number of rat pOis0ns
sold by druggists is legion, but there |.
one poison which never enters int
their composition namely. digtalin
the active principle Of the foxgloye
0ne-half grain Of this poisonous prIn
clple sufiices to kill a man within thres
quarters Of an hour, but the rat abso
lutely refuses to let It kill him.
When II Is discovered that a human
being has swallowed oxallc acid, the
first thing the doctor does is to give hi.
unfortunate patient 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 antidote in the form Of quan
titles OF calcium, which combine viii
the poison aud render 1t quite harm
less. 1t is interesting, however, {,
mention that II oxalic acid is injected
into the blood OF a fowl It would b,
poisoned. 1t IS only when given BY thl
mouth that the acid comes in contac
with the antidote. However. as chick
ems are not provided with hypodermi
I syringes, they are not likely to run an!
danger.
If China were inhabited by pigeon
instead or by people who speak pigeoi
English, a costly war and no end o
controversy might have been averted
FOR pigeons are not demoralized b.
opium. You cannot put a pigeon t
sleep with the "drowsy giant" simpl.
because there Is something in the bird
interior which resists the narcotic in
fuence Of the morphine to whicI
opium owes its activity.
There is little to connect the Russlai
peasant with a goat-unless it is bear
yet nevertheless both have one trai
In common neither is harmed by hem
lock. It was the Juice Of the hemlocl
so we have been told until we are tire
OF hearing it. that killed Socrates. Eve
since then it has been on the poison lis
as FAR rs civilized beings are coneeu
ed; but. all the same. roots OF hemloc
are eaten Rs food BY the Russian pea.
ants-and by goats.
In one respect the peasant Of tn
Austrian Tyrol resembles the hedgl
hog, because he can take IN one dos
as much arsenic as would kin sewers
Americans. This is not because th
pedsant is provided with any speci,
means Of combating the effects Of th
drug. but because he habituates bin
= self to It. The Tyrolean finds that a
senic increases his power Of endurance
He commences BY taking an eight
part Of a grain for a dose, which
gradually increased until he can tai
without any III effect five or MOI
grains ct q time.
= Experts have not been able TO mai
4 up their minds why these people b
q come tolerant to the drug. The mo-
plausible theory put forward mp to Il
present Ii that an antitoxln Is forme
by the administration OF the poisC
y which immunizes the subject. Just /
calf lymph immunizes US again
smallpox. Baltimore Sun.