The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-03
LANCEHEAD VIPER YIELDS RICH VIRUS Fluid Secured for Relief in
 Cases of Insanity FOR WORLD DISTRIBUTION Second Operation of the Kind Ever erformed-Former Supply Lasted
 80 Years-Method of
 Extraction.
From the New York World.

From the New York World Before men well known in the medl- cal profession and few other persons assembled in the reptile house of the Bronx Zoo, Keeper Snyder grasped a lancehead viper. the most deadly of all known reptiles. just back of the jaws and extracted the poisonous serum i from the snakes fangs The mar vellous operation gave to science a re- l newed supply of a serum which Is in- valuable as a remedy in the treatment of insanity and mental aff1ictions. It
 is the first time this operation has ever
 been performed in this country and the
 second time 1t has ever been per formed. The lanceh cad viper is found only in
 Brazil, near the upper waters of the
 Amazon. It was brought to this coun- 1 try last week by MT. Fox of Boericke
 & Runyon manufacturing chemists, at No. II West Forty-second street, for | the sole purpose of replenishing the supply of the serum, which is exceed 1 ingly rare. The tech nical term for the
 venom is "lachesis," derived from the name of the snake, lachesis trigeno | cephalus.
 1 Keeper Snyder reached into the com | pertinent containing the lancehead with
 long wire, caught up the snake with this and bore it into the operating
 room,
 Knew the Snakes Fear. 1 Everybody except the attendants
 made a move to disappear, for if the
 snake had wished to it could have squirmed off the wire; but Snyder 1 allayed the fears of the spectators
 when he said that the reptile would balance itself on the wire as it feared falling to the ground
 He laid it on the operating table, and 1 immediately it thrust forth it's fangs. | Quick as a flash Snyder pinned it's neck down to the table with can and while
 he grabbed the reptile at the back of it's jaws with his thumb and forefinger Dr. Ditth.rs, who is in charge of the reptile department of the zoo, gripped it's
 body with both hands, The snake twist
 ed and turned, striving hard to get | free.
 A glass beaker, with piece of cheese cloth over the top, was placed in front of it's head, and straightway it struck at it. shooting out its forked tongue and
 clasping the cheesecloth and one side of the beaker between it's jaws. Then d
 
 from the reptiles serum glands into the | beaker. Snyder kept the snakes mouth l pressed to the cloth, and for some time
 the serum continued to flow, as the lance- l head kept piercing the cheesecloth with
 it's fangs.
 As this was the first time since it's cap 1 tivity that the reptile has had a chance | to use it's fangs an unusual quantity of l serum was secured Professor Runyon
 said that when it was properly strength ] ened there would be a supply sufficient for practically all time.
 1 The operation over, Snyder again held I the snake down to the table with the I cane, and balancing it on the~wire put it | back into its compartment AS the serum | is one of the best bacteria mediums, 1t 1 was necessary to strengthen it at once, so
 Professor Runyon after determining the
 weight of the serum, which he found to ! be 17% grains, added 200 parts of sugar ] of milk to one part of serum. This, when | properly mixed, formed a clear, white | powder.
 Lancehead Is Doomed. | The process will have to be repeated countless times until the preparation has l been strengthened enough. Even then if
 the supply should begin to give out there would be no danger, as it would only be
 necessary to strengthen it some more. So l great is the strength of the serum that i only -millionth of a millionth part ot
 that obtained will be sold at one time. The operation does not harm the
 snake; but the lancehead has not eaten
 anything since it was captured, more
 than month ago, and 1t will die of ! starvation before long. It is about four l feet long, brilliantly colored, and with d l head shaped like an Indian arrow. Its ! coloring is chiefly glossy brown. There ] are diamond shaped patches of yellow | ish cast along It's sides, the diamonds be- l ing about three inches long.
 Dr. St. Clair Smith, the famous home- I opathic physician of New York; Dr. T.. | C. Robinson, who came from SaA Frau | cisco for the occasion; Dr. l.. L. Sam | forth, Dr. Ray Dittmars and Dr. Walter | Sands of New York, and several other 1 physicians witnessed the operation. The
 serum is to be separated into minute DOT l tions and sealed in little tubes for dis tribution among medical men in this coun- try and abroad.
 For 80 years the supply of "lachesis" had not been replenished. All that was
 obtained in that period came from a single specimen of the lancehead viper, captured in Brazil by Dr. Constantine
 Herring, who had been sent to that coun-
 try by the German government in the interests of medical science.