The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-10-05

aAAo III " 1S6AoI AlIAOOkCo VAIL
snakes He found that the people had
certain theories regarding snake bites,
but that they were not JaSed on fact
and that h medicines they used
were of no value. He began to look |
about for new medicines and in study
ing the snakes he became so interest
ed that he dropped his medical prac-
tice and has devoted his life to this
work. He has studied in Europe with
Prof. Calmette Of Lille, one of the
pioneers in the scientific vaccination
against snake bites. and has also done
research York in Paris with Roux and
in Berlin with Koch.
The doctor is now about forty years
Of age. He is a tall, straight. we'll
built man with Brazilian features,
having black hair and a mustache.
and deep brown eyes. He does not
like to ak about himself, but is en-
thusiaStic about his work.
1 went with him Over the labora-
tory and together we examined the
snakes and witnessed some curious
experiments. He ave me some most
interesting information about the
snakes and during the trip explained
the processes by which the venom is
extracted and passed through the cleo
trio furnaces before it is injected into
the horses. He said that it took q
long time for a horse to get enough
of the venom to make it's BLOOD fit
for the antitoxic serum. A horse must
be young n healthy, buteven then it
can stand but a small amount Of the
poison at first. 1t gets additional
doses evedy day or so and the doses
are gradually increased until at the
end of a yea Of such treatment the
blood Of the animal contains enough
of the poison to be used to max the
serum. l understand that the ami
mails thrive upon the poison. AS the
injections go on they grow fat and
their weight increases. but if they
are topped they at once begin to pine
away and lose weight. A horse which
has been gradually loaded with this
amount Of poison has, Dr.. Brazil says,
at the end OF the year enough venom
in his blood to kill 1000 horses that
have not been treated 1t all. A horse
loaded with poison will furnish serum
for a year or more and If given &C.
~casional doses Of poison the immuni-
zatin will last a long time.
1t is a curious thing that the poison
r used to produce the antitoxin works
$ we'll only when it comes from the fam
i1y Of snakes from which the bite ha:
, come. In other words, If one has beer
n bitten by q rattlesnake the serum
$ used Is an antidote should b. made
n from the blood of a horse inoculatet
t with rattlesnake poison only, and i
from a ~copperhead he should hav'
copperhead poison serum as an anti
f dote. There are two great families o
snakes here in Brazil which are es
pecially troublesome. These are tn
d Crotalus and the Bothrops. They ar
found in the forests, the thickets an,
in other damp places. They are timi
l. and flee as soon as disturbed by
II noise, but if II touches them or step
J. upon them they bite and inject tn
poison at the same time. In goin
le through the laboratories DR.. Vita
;e Brazil showed me hundred of glas
ic Jars, each of which contained a typ
is cal snake of Brazil put up in alcoho
le Some Of these jars were a yard hig
a. and the snakes in them were of a
d sizes and colors. Some looked lik
he jewel and the coral snakes were es
t. pecially beautiful. One table was de
Of voted to poisonous snakes and in tn
as was the Brazilian rather, which
IN especially venOmOus. 1t is Of a muc
ne lighter color han our rattlesnake an
lie it is the only kind Of RATHER found
Brazil, whereas the director tells n
en- that there are twelve species of rattl,
IS, Snakes in the Unied States.
I We next looked at the terrib
as Lachesis lanceolatus, the jararaca
he the indians. This is deadly p~oisonou
st and its bite will kill man or amin
re within a few minutes. We saw nun
ng erouS other poisonous snakes, b
1T they all belonged to three or 70
families and can be controlled by tt
us serums made for those families.
is addition 10 this there is another seru
all winch is made stronger than tt
MS ordinary serum for such cases whe
in the family Of the snake is not know
: a -
he 1t is on account Of the fact tn
to the poison must come from the SAL
are family that a serum prepared in 9th
at countries would be of no good in on
ing Each country needs it's own instit
ton n to make the serum from
w snakes or of other countrt
his which are Of about the same natu
s a For this reason the venom Of Asia
snakes which will counteract the BIZ
sed of European vipers is useless agai,
the bites of the Bothrops or Crota'