The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1907-12-18

Some Species Arc Immune to TIE
Most Deadly Drugs.
MYsIERY Of LIE HEDaEHOa.
This Rristly Little Creature Can Make
Meal Of Arsenic Or Opium and
Wash II Down With 4 Draft ~
Prussio Acid Without Discomfort

Wash " Down With Draft of
Prussia Acid Without Discomfort.
Poison is surely one Of the most
weird Of natures bizarre contrivancea.
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 acont
tine. A moments Whit Of unseen va
por. and II that vapor rises from pure
prussic acid all human cid 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 skiIlful hand
Of the physician poisons are most val
liable medicines. But few persons are
aware Of the stlll more curious fact
that poisons when taken BY certain an
imals even ia large quantities are quite
harmless.
Yet, strange as It may seem, this Il
perfectly true Take. for instance the
hedgehog. This bristly little animal ls
absolutely poison proof It can eat
without discomfort as much opium as
q hardened Chinese can smoke in a
fortnight and can wash a meal down
with as much prussIc acid as would
KIN a regiment Of soldiers II 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 priczly hedgehog
has little need to fear the approach Of
such q reptile. It has even been stated
that It can swallow corrosive sublH
mate, and vet this Ii 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
10 cause a full grown man to foam At
the mouth and lose the power Of his
limbs. Truly the hedgehog Il a strange
freak, and yet not 50 inexplicable as
the poisons by which he refuses to be
poisoned.
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
lmpunity as much stryehnine rs would
XIII two men Instantly. The monkey,
curiously enough, shares the immunity
TO strychHine poisoning with Inverte
brate animals Another phenomenon Is
the rat. The number Of rat poisons
sold by druggists Is legion, but there IS
one poison which never enters into
their compositions -namely. digtalin,
the active principle o. the foxglove
One-half grain Of this poisonous prin.
ciple sufEices to kill a man within three
quarters Of an hour. but the rat abs0-
lutely refuses to let 1t kill him.
When Il Is discovered that human
being has swallowed oxalic acid, the
FIRST thing the doctor does Is to give bis
unfortunate patient q 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 fntestines con
tain the antidote In the form OF quan
titles OF calcium. which combine witt
the poison and render It quite harm
less. Il Is Interesting. however. &
mention that II oxalic acid is injectee
into the blood OF a fowl Il would b
poisoned, It ia only when given by thi
I mouth that the acid comes In contac
with the antidota. However. as chick
ems are not provided with hypodermt
: syrlngss, they are not likely to run au.
danger
II China we're Inhabited by pigeon
instead OF BY people who speak pigeol
English, a costly war ana no end 0
controversy might have been averted
Tor pigeons are not demoralized b.
{ opium. You cannot put a pigeon I
e sleep with the 4drowsy giant simpl
because there Is something in the bird
p interior which reslsts the narcotic Il
\ auence Of the morphine to whIc
opium owes It's activity.
4 There is little to connect the Russia
4 peasant with a goat-unless it is bear
:. -yet nevertheless both have one trnl
n IN common--neither IS harmed by hen
lock, It was the juice Of the hemlocl
50 we have been told until we are tire
OK hearing 1t. that Killed Socrates. Eye
+ since then Il has been on the poison Il:
+ as far as civilized beings ere cencer
,r 81: but. ali the same, roots Of heml0c
l. are eaten as food BY the Russian pea
j. ants-and by goats.
s. In one respect the peasant Of d
r Austrian Tyrol resembles the hedg
n hog, because he can take IN one dos
# as much arsenic as would kin sever
lo Americans. This is not because t
II peasant Is provided with any speci
II means OF combating the effects Of Il
e drug, but because he habituates hin
nelf 70 it. The Tyrolean llads that a
aenic Increases his power Of enduranc