AN EXPERT AND SNAKES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 4, 30 December 1912, Page 5

AN EXPERT AND SNAKES.

CHECKMATING THE POISONER

A Remarkable Demonstration.

(‘Sydney Daily Telegraph.’)

“Gee, but ho 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 cf snakes of all kinds, deposited in a age, 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 the efficacy 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 Co.), E. F. Beeby, Darnjll Smith (of the' Bureau of Microbiology), and others. Attention was the other day directed to the fact that several deaths from snakebite had occurred in certain\of the country districts, and the belief having been expressed that had they been within reaching distance of the Botanyexpert,the lives of the individuals referred to might have been saved.

Before the real test of the afternoon was entered npon, 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 fluid was a,simple one. v Across a small glass saucer was stretched a piece of gutta-percha, and the snakes were induced to bite on this, with the result that the fatal drops were left glistening in , the saucer under the rubber band. The Messenger of - Death. Then what the entrepreneur ■ would call the piece de resistance was staged. An exceedingly vicious-looking reptile was brought from its box, and the “Professor”, explained that he intended to induce it to bite him on the. arm, so that the spectators could examine the wounds and judge by the puncture marks the deadliness ’or otherwise of the incisions. Fox was quick, but the reptile was quicker. Twice lie headed the darting thing back from his body and dodged the messenger of' death with 1 a clever movement of the arm. It Was as if two expert fencers were at work; the one thrusting his rapier at lightning speed, and the defender just flicking the point aside only a- fraction of a second iiiside time. But presently, before the preliminaries to this part of the proceedings had been fairly completed, ; and the “Professor” had settled himself to master the reptile before him, the parrying arm was late, and two murderous fangs sank into the index finger of the right hand, just above the middle joint. , To many people the plunge would have meant a cruel 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 an unnecessary waste of time, in view of the, to them, terrible happening. Then he coolly drew from his' pocket i\n ordinary pen-knife and cut the flesh 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 bipod ran for a minute or two; but presently a tiny, clear, crim son flow made its way cut of the wound, increasing as the antidote took effect. When, it issued from all partr of the gash the victim of the attack was satisfied: “Now, I am right,” he said; “my finger may swell a little, but I will be at my work as usual in the morning.”

It was then explained that the blood congealed immediately the snake poi son reached it, and that as the latter travelled so the process spread over the arteries till the heart was reached and the end came. Whether the an tidote “extracted” the poison, as it were, or travelled the faster, was not made quite clear; but several minuterlater the “Professor” was proceeding with Ids lecture, if it may so be called. A Popular Misbelief. It is a popular belief that reptiles are generally “fixed” for show purposes—that is to say, the deadly fang; which convey the poison to the wound are drawn before handling. Others contend that after several emissions by the reptile the poison loses,its vim lence. To show the absurdity of such a contention in this case, the “Professor” caught the snake and gave in the rubber to chew once more, with the result that there was the usual deposit on the glass. Finally a young 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 in the space of two or three minutes the fowl was dead. From the point of view of the discover er of the antidote the experiments .were complete. Those who witnessed then left with a new 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 the following day.