The daily Alaskan., 1918-06-13

HH0aG FNNifnAi SthoN -
 Fears of injury and even death from snake bite terror occasIoned by dangers imaginary and unseen, keep many nerV- ous people from living on the land, 'iSnd these senseless fears play larger part than most people imagine in keeping people huddled In apartment houses' crowded into towns and cities. And the cost of living scars and scars.
 Snake and insect poisoning terUE1Ees millions of well meaning men andWom- en, when, as matter of fact, dan ger from falling while running the lawn mower is much more real Fear seems to become a oosesStoD, and the word deadly" creepS into conversation at every verse end. The FGttleSnake IS deadly" The cOpperhead and moo casin are deadly" So Is the wholly mythical puff adder. In hardly less degree is the tarantulaI deadly" while varying Iethal capacities are aSertoed to the centipede. the acornm. the kiss inS bug and sundry other forms CT in' sect life. Pseudo science to the con trary notwithstanding there is no hV- ing thinS within the boundaries Of the United States of America wh0Se btfe or sting is sure death or (with one poSsl- ole eIeeption) even probable death.
 There gre five varieties of venomous serpents h the country, three of them Crotnlids and two belonging to the elaps family. Tbe elapsJare rare. The crotalids (rattlesnake, moccastn and Copperhesd) are common and or the widest geographical distribution. Yet, on the basis of actual evidence, the amazing fact stands out that only about eighty persons, so fRrRs iS ascer- tainable, have ever died from snake bites in the United States.
 Be 1t remembered that death follow ing snake bite is not necessarily the same thing as death from snake bite. Error in treatment plays 10 smah part in vitiating the statistics. For "error read whisky" WhOeyerSts primarily responsible for the hoaryrsupersdtion that liquor in huge dosesSis useful in snake poisoning has msnya life to an swer for. A whole bottle Sof raw whis- ky forced down the throstFot man un- accustomed to alcohol is pretty likely 70 kill him and is absolutely certain to cause grave poisoning.
 Fully as much terror attaches, in the country districts, to the puff adder or sand viper es to the 'rattNesRAke or cop perhead. This is a suggestive bit Of superstition, since there's DO such thing as an adder or viper on the western hemisphere and never has been one, unless 1t came carefully pckled tn R Jar. What passes. for the supposedly deadly reptile is the common hog ncsed or bull snake. It is acknowledgements as an inturiated, rabbit. Ruhit puts up one of the best "blufSs" known to nat. Ural history.
 Diseased imSginatiOn;coulG Ginpent no creature more horriic of appearance than the taraHtula. 2s bri9tling and hostile aspect, the swift feroctty Of it's rush, its great size and its enShustRsdc preference for combat as,agRdnst night are sufficient to account for the fear and respect in which 1t is generally held. But, though several species of the huge spider are native tn the United States and others frequently drop. out of banana punches from South and Central America, to the discomftyre Of the unsuspecttug grocer, no authentic instance Of death from tarGntula pol son in this, country is obtatnable.
 In some sections of the country the spider hysteria prevails. People shiVer every time they see 8 spider. Yet in all the United States:there is known but one poisonous spiden Strangely enough, the one dangerous spider on the American continent Is small, obscure and practically unknown. LatrOdectus mactans is it's scientific name. It is about the size of a large pea, black, with 6 red spot on the back-a useful danger signal-and spins R small web in outhouses or, around iwoOdpilsS. But few specimens have ever been identt- fled in this country
 The only insect which really kills is the mosquito, yet less fear is expressed about it's activities than about any Oth- CT poison carrying insect or snake. Compared with the mosquito as . real menace, all the combined brood of snakes, scorpions, centipedes, tarantu- las and other pet bugaboos of our child 1sh romanucism are utterly negligible are as figments to reality, as shadow to substance.
 4 clear understanding of these popu- lar fears and superstitions would aid greatly in giving assurance of safety, to the man. or woman who would till the soil, who would work in the open fields, who would live In the country,- Los Angeles Times.