The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1914-09-22
SNAKES DEATH TOLL
IS LARGE IN INDIA
NUMBER OF VICTIMS EQUALS
FATALITIES OF THE GIGAN-
TIC WAR IN EUROPE.
OFFICIAL REPORT HALF MILLION

Extracting Venom Is Important In
dustry, and i'm One of His Reports
American Consul at Calcutta IN
terestingIy Describes Operation.
While the slaughter resulting from
the present European war horrities
the whole world the official figures
probably will show that the number
of deaths will not exceed the total
number of human beings killed by
snakes in India in the twenty-five
years from 1887 to 1911. In that
period the number of lives lost by
snake bites in India tOtaled 1891,
an average of ri, 760 annually. Dur
ing the same time snakes caused the
death of 187,436 cattle. The figures,
presented to the department of COM
merce by Consul General James A.
Smith of Calcutta are taken from
official reports. No wonder India is
impaIed to all sorts of scientific ex-
periments in the preparation of anti
dotes for snake bite.
Consul General Smith transmits
an interesting account Of the work
of extracting venom from snakes for
the purpose of making an antidote
for the poison, as it is carried on at
Parel laboratory, Bombay.
"a couple of Indian assistants drag
forth a tin box he writes. THE
lid is lifted up and an angry cobra
disclosed. 1t expanded its hood and
swayed it's wicked little head from
side to side, kissing like steam en-
CINE. One of the Indians, with re-
markable dexterity, seized it firmly
at the back of the neck, at the same
time placing his foot on the end of its
tail to prevent it from coiling. The
cobra, being thus rendered harmless,
was carried forward, and wine
glass, with piece of American cloth
covering the top, was placed near its
head, close to it's darting tongue and
glittering eyes.
-
sharp upper fangs pierced the cloth,
and the deadly poison dropped into
the glass. There was perhaps half a
teaspoOnful in the glass, sufficient to
kill half dozen human beings. The
cobra was then forcibly fed an egg
flip through a tube and put back in
it's box Kissing ferOciously, and was
then left for ten days to mediate on
the indignity it had suffered. The
venom is extracted only once in ten
days.
THE venom is dried over lime and
sent to Kasuli, where it is dissolved
in a salt solution. A small dose is
injected into a horse. The dose is
gradually increased until at the end
of two years the animal can stand a
dose 200 times the original one, since
it acquires immunity from the pois-
on. The substance which confers this
immunity is in the blood, and when
the corpuscles are separated from 1t
the residue is the snake bite anti
dote. Each bite requires an antidOte
made from the venom of the same
sort of snake as that which inflicted
the bite. 1t is pronounced absolutely
effective if injected in time and lives
have been saved by its use. The lab
oratory now has enough of the ven
ON to supply the demands of India,
and it is being exported to Germany
and the United States, cobra venom
being regarded as useful in expert
ments connected with the blood. A
similar venom is being made from
the venom of the Russell viper, but
no antivenine has been made from
the venom of the karat or that of
tho st,n oil Minar Or nnlnS ~