The Cairo bulletin., 1913-03-29
MAKE USE OF SNAKES
SCIENTISTS FIND DEADLY REP.
TILES Az AID IN MEDICINE.
Captured at Much Cisk, Their Pecu-
Hary Value Grcat-Are "Bsited"
to Induce The,1 to Eject Vslu.
able Poison.

Tho majority OF snakes are not, as
most people suppose, aggressive In
their, aabits. but. like the British
viper, far more anxious to get out OF
the way Of the human intruder than
into It. But ttere are few famous,
or infamous. exceptions, and the NAM
ba- one OF the, largest of the cobras,
and 4 native OF Africa lis said to be
the most dangerous reptile in the
world It will fly at anything and
anyhody: goes ont Of its way TO pick
q ausgvol NTH every parser by. and
has even been known to come down
from tree where It was resting ap.
pareil,ly Fast asleep, to try concu-
sions With q man armed with a gun,
The only Snake that at all approaches
the rnamba in ferocity is the great
king cobra, or hamadryad OF The east,
which Is larger than the mamba and
generally quite as ready to interfere
with any living creature that comes
within its Ken, IT. has been known
to chase man on horseback, and 40
fast can It travel that it is said none
but 0 swiftfooted animal has any
chance OF escaro The prison OF both
these snakes is SO powerful that as
some one cnee stated in an e1amina-
ton paper on reptiles. even SCENT
ist when bitten by either Of these
fosocloGs creatures, oeasca 10 be inter
ested in the matter after the space Of
a few minutes" Among the Austria.
liam cobras, the pitvipers OF America,
and the great West African vipers.
there are certain species that prefer
the offensive to the defensive method.
and in most cases It is the aggressive
varieties that carry the most poison
GUS fangs.
Snake-baiting is an amusement that
few persons would care to indulge in,
but 1t appears that this ha -ardo,is
occupation is an actual business in
certain parts Of Australia The poison
is said to be Invaluable in the prepare
ton of particular medicines. and is
also much sought after by scientists
and experimenters. Its value is such
indeed, that the snake poison col.
lected by the natives of New South
Wales has been sold for as much
as q sovereign to twenty-five shillings
a grain, which works out at the amaz.
ing figure OF ssoeoO per pound troy.
The buisipess Of snake-catch:ng is
naturally exceedingly dangerous, but
some OF the Australian snake hunters
are SO expert that they can take their
quarry with no other weapon but their
hands. While one attracts the rep.
tiles attention another creeps up be-
hind and grasps the snake by the
neck, and SO holds it until it can be
transferred to a cage or bag. The
reptiles are then taken to their perma.
nent cages. whore they are at inter-
walls "baited' with a specially pre-
pared instrument, upon whose end
Is rubber band encircling a small
sheet of glass, The snake bites
through the rubber and deposits its
venom on the glass, which ia then
scraped into phial and the contents
sealed down. The snake, once cap.
tured without injury, is a constant
source of revenue, as the poison Ia
quickly secreted afresh, ready for the
next batting Thus, at last, the
snake. whose reputation has hitherto
been mainly earned in its capacity for
destroying life, may now be said TO be
an important agent in Its prcserva.
ton.