UNCANNY FEATS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1633, 27 December 1912, Page 5

UNCANNY FEATS.

CHECKMATING HIS SNAKESHIP, 'THE-BITE AND THE CURE. ''-.; "Gee, but he got me that time!" "Professor" Fox rose from his haunches gathered together three or four feet of the ..most vicious-looking reptile he had .in -his. collection of several hundreds of snakes, of all kinds, deposited it in. a cage, and .pointed to-one of the fingers of the right'hand, on' which were two ominous drops.'.of bad blood,"and began to.apply an 'antidote. . '> . ... The occasion was a public, demonstration of theefncacy.of some secret preparation, which, seems to be all that is claimed for it. There were present as , interested spectators. Messrs.'.Chambers (Board of Health), C. C. Murray (Parke', Davis, and C0.),-E. F. : Beeby, Darnell Smith (of the Bureau of. Miehrobiology),: and others. Attention; was recently directed to the fact that, several deaths from snake-bite hadoccurre'd in certain of the country districts; and the belief expressed that had they been within reaching distance of the. Botany expert the lives of the individuals referred to might have been' saved, before, the real test of , the afternoon' was entered upon, several 'of the reptiles had the poison drawn from their fangs in order, to satisfy the visitors of the genuineness of the experiments..; .The method of extracting the uuid'w'as a simple .one. Across a 'small glass'saucer was stretched a piece of"gutta-percha, and the snakes were induced' to bite'.on this, with' the Tesuttthat; the fatal drops were left glistening- in, the saucer under the. rubber band..-' -''~■ '•'■'.' -.-'

•.-''.-.',-■'■.' ;..''A Real Live Bite. 'Then: what the entrepreneur would call the. piece de resistance was staged. An exceedingly viciousJookiiig reptile was brought from its box, and the.-"Professor" explained that he intended to induce it to bite him oh. the arm; so that the spectators could .-examine. the wounds , and judge .by the:puncture marks the deadlines: or otherwise, of the incisions. Fox was quick, but the. reptile was quicker. Twice' he headed th,e darting, thing-back from'his body and the messenger of .death with a.clever "movement of the arm. .It was as if ,tw ; p. expert fencers were at work; the one thrusting his rapier at lightning dpeed,. and the defender . just flicking the point aside, only', a'..fraction of a;'second inside, .time....'-But presently, before the preliminaries, to this part,of the proceedings.had been fairly completed, and the. "Prdfessor'Vhad settled, himself to master the reptile before him, something flashed to his right, and snap-, ped, the,parrying arm was late, and 'two murderous-fangs sank.'into the index finger:'.of.the.right hand, just.above the middle joint. Ttf-many people the plunge would have'meant acruel death. But not so for the, expert; he gathered the victor of the fight; pushed him into, his box,; and then .came forward. ': ■'Look for yourselves!" he called to the spectators, -several of whom considered the proceeding ah unnecessary waste of time, m view of the;''to them,' terrible happening. Then he coolly drew from his pocket, an ordinary. penknife and cult the-nesh deeply across the punctures. Singularly, enough little. ' blood flowed. Into the opening he. poured a fluid from a ;small phial,-and then commenced to knead the flesh around the wound. -No biood ran.for a;minute or two; but,presently a tiny; clear, crimson flow made its .way out of the'.wound,increasing as the antidote .took effect;, When it' .issued from., all''parts',of ,thc gash '.the. victim of: the attack ;was T ,satisfied. "N0w,.1 am right;" f he.said; : "my. finger may swell a. little, but.l will.be at'my work as usual in tha';mdrnjng." : ' "■''■' ■)'

•'■;; Theory of the Poison,

It was .then, explained that 1 the Wood congealed immediately thn snake poisojv reached it, and that as the latter travelled) so the process spread oyer the. arteries till-the .heart.; was reached and the.'enit came;' Whether the antidote "extracted" the poison, as i.t""wefC"pr'~tTa'velled the faster'.was.not• madei-quite■■' clear; 'butseveral, minutes later ~the:"Profossor."i , was: proceeding:.irith'his"lecture,, if. it.may so be'called."':■•>'■'■, ,■':";'.'.. '':•■■■■'■'■■■;.'■

It is a popular belief that reptiles are . generally .fixed", for show purposes—that, is to',say, the deadly fangs .which-convey the poison to the wound -are drawn before handling. '.' Others " contend • that after several emissions '. by the ' reptile the poison-lo'se3 its virulence.. To show £he absurdity of snch a-contention in. this case,-the "Professor", caught the snake and- gave it "the rubber to', chew once more, with'the result that there was the usual; deposit, on the glass.. Finally a fyotiiig man, who had; been cured'by Fox, offered to combat .the immunity theory by-allowing himself'to be-' bitten.. The spectators did"not like the.'idea; and so a hen was "experimented with instead. The snake was induced to bite its leg, and inth'e'space of two or three minutes the fowl-was dead. From the point'of. view of the discoverer,of the antidote- the ex- . periniehtsWere complete.-. ■ Those who.witnessed then left with.a now conception of;the possibilities,of the antidote." Fox bowed' them . from the premises after naively inviting several'to come 'along and have dinner; off the hen on theifoilowing. day.—Sydney . "Daily Telegraph.",. •'.':■'.;