Evening star., 1932-05-27
|SNAKES Of INDIA
DEFY SCIENTISTS
Inability to Reach Victims in
Time CurtaiIs Progress
Against Scourge.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
LONDON, May 27.-India Is looking
for st. Patrick to drive the snakes out
of the subcontinent. 1t was announced
the other day that $4,000 people died
annually from snake bite in India, and
although this is possibly an exaggera-
ton, the incidence of death both among
men and animals from this source is
very high.
One of the greatest authorities in
the world en- snake bite, Sir Leonard
Rogers, president of the Medical Board
who has had long years Of experience
in India. said that he thought the f1g-
ures quoted-25, ,000-were an exaggera-
ton.
The death rate from snake bite in
India is very high, but not as high as
stated in this return" he said.
Confused With Other Causes.
Many natives think that they or
their children are suffering from snake
bite when their illness may have been
due to some other cause. In reporting
the death to the police they have prob
ably stated the cause as snake poison
ing. and the police officer not being
medical man, has accepted their state
ment.
Il know myself of case where the
natives thought that the cause of death
was snake bite, but an autopsy showed
that death was due to pneumonia.
L tried for many years in India to
find means of alleviating the awful
death rate from this scourge We
prepared serums and antidotes, but
the difficulty was to treat the patient
in time. Some snakes, such as cobras,
are more venemous and deadly than
others and If the antidote is not ap-
piled almost Immediately the patient
dies. When 1t is remembered that
about one in fifty people live within
so miles OF hospital you can realize
the difficulties that confront the medi-
cal profession in dealing with this
matter.
Statistics Not Reliable.
1T is also extremely difficult to get
any reliable statistics on the efficacy
OF antidotes. Even when we have
treated the patient Immediately after
ne has been bitten We are often not
sure whether he would not have re-
covered without the aid of treatment. :"
Sir Leonard related experiments
showing with what lightning rapidity
Travelled through the system Of animals
A dog which had been bitten on the
point Of the tail by a cobra had the tail
Immediately amputated The dog
nevertheless died as the poison had
passed into the body. With other
snakes the poison travelled much less
rapidly, and in some cases curative
measures could be taken within "a
hours after the person has been bitten.
Deadly Only to Warm Blooded.
A strange phenomenon regarding
cobras was that their poison proved
deadly only to warm blooded animals
1t was without effect on frogs and
toads. The sea snake, the most poison
Gus Of all reptiles, made no distinction
between warm and cold-blooded animals
Il am afraid We have not progressed
very much in diminishing the number
Of deaths from snake bite in India"
added Sir Leonard. The people in
many localities are ignorant and super
stitious, and have known of cases
where a man would not drive a cobra
out of his house because he said it
would bring him bad luck. He after
ward turned up at the police station
to announce the death Of his child from
snake bite"
Sir Leonard Rogers greatest work
in India has been connected with the
campaign to overcome leprosy. He is
Of the opinion that before long they
will have the situation well in hand
provided they can catch the disease in
its early stages There is little danger
now, he said. Of medical men handling
cases of leprosy contracting the disease
themselves II they take proper precau-
ton. 1t was significant that the nurses
who attended these patients and who
took proper antiseptic precautions re-
mained immune
tCopyrght, 1922