El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-03-16

ton is given to the whole serpent I
tribe BY such deadly species as the
casin Qikewise American), the tiger
snake" and death adder Of AusLrallal
the horned viper" OF Egypt the Jara-
cara" of the valleys Of the Orlnoco
and Amazon, the "surucuru' OF the
same region. whose bite kills a COW IN
two hours, the cobra and KRAFT q IN
dia. and the notorious fer de lance OF
Martinique. t.s
Only within very recent years mas
ANYTHING come to be definitely known
about the true sea serpents- Inefe are
about 40 species Of these, ana thelL
bite is exceedingly deadly. Apparently
the cobra. They are exclusively IN
habitants of trcpic seas, and some On
them are Quite primarily colo4Su-
Noteworthy as characteristic OF lheIn
an is a stout body with very slender
neck and q rudderlike tail The larSest
OF them attains a length Of about Z
feet Smallest of them all is the mana
whallagee PAM, OF the lndlan CCse..,
four feet long, which often finds us
way into the nets of fishermen, VINO
greatly dread it.
one species OF these marine serpents
is common in the Gulf Of Me p. al
of them live on fishes, which 10y XIII
with their venom. They never leave
the water except to lay their eggs,
which are deposited on sandy Deacles
lust above tide-mark- Their young are
often seen III cncAA4W . q DbAN
grounds. Eagles and sharks prey upon
the adult snakes, which are sometimes
observed by thousands together, IN
calm weather. sleeping on the surface
The Deadly Sea Snake.
During the great eruption OF kra-
katoa. large numbers Of the lnhd Dr.
ants Of the eastern end Of SuIaatra
ashes to abandon the land and put OH
in boats Having done 50, they found
their situation hardly improved Tor Ine
sea snakes, which are extraordinarily
/ the increasing heat Of the water, sur
[ rounded the boats and swarmed on
/ board Of them, Notwithstanding al eI-
forts made TO drive them or.
Like cobra's poison, the venom OF
I these sea serpents=Which VIII attack
man without the slightest proVocauon
1 seem to act upon the nerve centefs'
/ rendering the victim unable 10 DreaLne e
cation It is quite otherwise with the
venom OF the ratuesnake, when Qls-
/ organizes the blod in such way that
/ IL actually filters through the walls
Of the blood vessels, producing soII
of hemorrhage that is often fatal
Swallows RattIesnalSe Venom
/ Prof Baird, when ne was secrel1ty
] Of the Smithsonian institution, pelhs
anxious to prove that rattlesnake pol
Z son was harmless when taken inter
4 nalIy. swallowed the venom glands OF
I a full grown reptile OF that species 40
/ bad results folowed-though Dr. Stel-
! meyer thought il dangerous proceed
/ ing. and advised him not to try L.
/ DR. Stejneger is stil of the opinion
( that the experiment would have Deen
Z likely to have fatal consequences II
] the professor had eaten the poison
I glands of a cobra instead-the venom
I Of the latter being so different In It's
mode OF action.
When, as sometimes happens. It is
II On HIN d.
/ ian specimen IN the shape Of a skele-
/ ton the Job is attended with no little
3 difficulty. The flesh has first TO be
/ removed with scissors and forceps,
after which the bones are careIu ll "
4 scraped, great pains being taken to
avoid injury to the cartilaginous ex-
I tremities Of the ribs. These rib ends
/ serve the living snake in lieu Of feet
although beneath the skin and oy
means Of them it crawls. The pythons
and boas, euriOusly enough, possess
I rudimentary hind legs
Backbone Of a snake ~BeautifuL7
Prof. Huxley once said that the most
/ beautiful piece Of mechanism he knew
! was the backbone of q snake. Each
/ two vertebrate are Joined together BY
] a ball-and- socket Joint and nave eight
/ other Joints in addition-thus admit
J ting of every variety Of curYatures
and the utmost pliancy OF movement
The tooth which conveys the venom
I Tin poisonous species) Is a sort Of hy-
I with a slit down the side to carry the
{ poison and solid point Snake
/ charmers in India usually render harm
I less the cobras with which they do such
D surprising tricks by making a cut
I through the upper LIP Of the reptile,
/ thus exposing the venom bag, there
/ upon removing the latter, and apply
I ing a hot iron. BY this means the
I most dangerous serpent is rendered as
{ innocent as the snake which st. Pat
rick so carelessly failed to drive out Of
/ ireland.
Rene Bache.