Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 September 1879 — INDIA'S VENOMOUS SNAKES. [ARTICLE]

INDIA'S VENOMOUS SNAKES.

The Bapidxty With Which the . Cobra’s Venom is Difihsed in the Blood—A Lucky Hit in the Dark—How Juggler’s Exorcise Reptiles. New York Hun. “We have in India.” said a gentleman. much of whose life was passed in Hindustan, •‘snakes more venomous than are to be found tn the Western hemisphere, or even in Africa. The most deadly serpent in this country is, I suppose, the rattlesnake, but hundreds of persons have been bitten by it. and have recovered. For tbe bite of a cobra in full vigor, however, there Is no known cure. Immediately after the rainy season the cobra Is in his worst form. He lies dormant while torrents of rain that seem like the renewal of the flood are deluging the earth, rarely coming out of the deep hole in which be finds shelter, and all

that time the poison is accumulating, until the hag at the root of the hollow fang is filled to bursting. The cobra has but one poisonous fang, and when he is undisturbed and not angry this lies flat on the jaw. But the moment an enemy appears the aspect of the oobra changes. He assumes an almost perpendicular position, which is the only one from which he can strike. His tail is thrown into the form of a ring, and on this he stands erect. His head is bent forward, and he makes a figure like that of an old-foshioned walking stick with a crook for a handle. A fleshy hood rises along the back of the neck, and expands to a an-iike shape behind the head, while around his flashing little eyes appear bright yellow rings, looking like spectacles. Seen thus, his tongue darting out and in, he is about as repugnant a creature as exists. When in a position for striking he can spring probably about ten feet; but he is easily killed. He never runs away, and though he will not move toward an enemy to get within springing distance, if the Intruder approaches him he does not retreat, and it is only necessary to stand about twenty feet away and hurl a stick at him. A slight blow will break his back, and he is then powerless. - “Probably the greatest experimenter upon snakes that ever lived was Dr. Fayrer, of Calcutta. He was particularly interested in the discovery of a cure for the bite of the cobra, for the number of lives lost by this cause every year in India is incredible. After years of carefiil study, and after he had exhausted recipes sent to him from all parts of the world, he declared that there was no known remedy for the bite, and that a man impregnated with the poison of a vigorous oobra must die. in the course of his experiments he made a singular discovery, that the bite of one cobra could not kill another. A large cobra will destroy a smaller one, but only by lacerating it with its teeth, not by means of its venom. “Once I stood with Dr. Fayrer in his studio when he was about to make an experiment to determine the rapidity with which a cobra’s poison would do its work. In the middle of the room was a wooden box containing a fourfoot cobra, which had been confined there without food for three days, and was in a horrible stale of rage, and stocked with venom. Not far from the box was a large dog, of greater strength and vitality than an average man. He was chained, and nearly all the hair had been shaved off from one of bis hind legs. At a signal from the Doctor an assistant pulled a string, the door of the box rose, and the cobra, with a cord tied around his tail, glided out like a streak of light. The unfortunatedog had been anxiously watching the box for some minutes, and giving vent to his uneasiness by a low whining noise. The moment he saw the snake coming out he was thrown' into an agony of terror, as is nearly every animal when he sees a cobra, albeit he has never set ei es upon one before. Everybody in the room stood as for away from the snake as possible, the assistant holding the string that waa«ttached to the reptile’s tail; in a second the cobra had fastened its eyes upon the dog, which was the object nearest to it, and rising upon its tail it assumed its horrible position of attack. Then, launching its body like lightning through the intervening space, it fastened its songs fairly in the center of the bare, conspicuous spot upon the dog’s flank. Instantly the assistant pulled the string and dragged the writhing reptile from its boW. and Dr. Fayrer seised the injured part of the dog’s leg between tbe thumb and first finger of his left hand; and with a clean, swift sweep of his scapel cut it down to the bone. Remedies were at once applied to stop the bleeding and stimulants were given, but in a few

minutes the dog began to exhibit those symptoms of drowsiness that always >reoede death from the bite of a cobra. Every effort was made to arouse him, but within a little more than twenty minutes from the time the snake bit him the dog lay dead on the floor. In this instance I do not think more than two seconds elapsed after the bite was given before the injured flesh was swept out. The result conveys some idea of the' rapidity with which the poison acts. The dog exhibited no indications of suffering. And in this respect the poison of the cobra is different from that of all other venomous reptiles, and especially from that of the rattlesnake. The bite of the latter serpent convulses the victim with pain, but the wound inflicted bv the cobra causes a perfectly painless death. The doomed person sinks gradually into a calm, deep sleep, against which no resistance can be made, and from which there is no awakening.

“I remember once being called by my servant to look at his wife, who, he said, had died in the night. That the woman was really dead there was no doubt; but what she died of was a problem. .She had been a large, strong woman, apparently In perfect health, and when she returned home the proceeding night she made no complaint of feeling ill. She was very drowsy, however, and as soon as she lay down she fell asleep. This gave a clew as to the cause of her death, and a subsequent examination discovered two small punctures dose together on the calf of the leg. She had been bitten by a cobra in the night, while walking carelessly through the long grass, and, probably supposing that a wamble had stung her, she went home without dreaming that she had received afetal wound. “But though the vigorous cobras, when they bite, always inflict feta wounds, there Is certainly some means

by which they can he rendered harmless. Ido not mean by pulling out the poisonous songs, for that would probably kill the snake, or in any event, if done by jugglers, it would he likely to be detected. I should think, however, that they might enrage the oobra, and force it to strike three or four times at a dog or some other animal. This would exhaust the poison, and until it was renewed the reptile would be

harmless. In its entirely wild state, however, tbe cobra always seems to have a supply of vemon in reserve. At least I have never heard of any one being bitten by one of theee creatures in the Held and recovering. But once, while I and two of my friends were sitting on the veranda or our bungalow, in Allahabad, a juggler was announced. He was a harsh featured old man, and his sole stock in trade consisted of a heavy canvas bag, which seemed to be empty. At all events he turned it inside out and shook it, and allowed us to examine it. Then be threw it upon the ground, and did not touch it any more until the exhibition was over. We. however, looked into it again, and walked over it, and satisfied ourselves generally that there was nothing inside of it Then the juggler, squatting down half a dozen yards away, began to wave his wand at the bag ana mutter spells and incantations. Soon we were startled by seeing the canvas quiver, and then undulate in a more decided manner. Then the mouth was pushed open, and an immense oobragliaedout. It had the appearance of a wild snake, excited to the ufhaost pitch of ferocity, and as it worked its way rapidly along the veranda, its head erect, its spectacle encircling its eyes, and its tongue darting quickly in ana out, we all thought we should obtain a better view of the reptile by climbing upon the table. We got up there as quickly as possible, and

the juggler seized the snake around the neck and held it dose to his foce. In another moment the oobra’s songs were buried in the man’s forehead. But this did not seem to disturb the man in the least. With the Mood streaming down his foce, he grasped the snake tightly, forced open its mouth with a slender piece of stick, and showed us that the poisonous feng was there, for he raised it up and pushed it down with the little swifcih. Then he put the serpent back into the bag. where it writhed for a few minutes ana then lay still. When we looked In. it was not there, and we rubbed our eyes, and thought we had taken more brandy and soda than was good for us. But there on the man’s forehead were the two little holes, the unmistakable marks of a cobra’s bite. They were already changing from a red to a livid hue, and there seemed to be but little time to be lost if tbe juggler’s life was to be saved. Takingafittle pod, like a coffee bean, from his pocket, he placed it upon the wound on his forehead, where it stuck fost. The flow of blood soon stopped, and the man, having received his reward, made his salaam, and walked away with what seemed to be an empty bag under his arm. Knee that time I have seen many jugglers bitten by cobras apparently without evil result. “These men have a wonderful influence over snakes. They tame them to an amazing extent, and very often come to a European’s bungalow and offer to clear all the serpent’s outof the compound or enclosed ground for a small consideration. If the proposition is accepted they squat down upon the ground and play a quick, horrible jaggiiug tune on a reed flute. Very soon the owner of the compound is astonished to see snakes of aU kinds and sizes coming out of holes which he fondly hoped were tenanted only by toads or rats. They move with a soft measured motion toward the musician, who quickly grasps them and places them in his bag until twenty or more are there, then, having, as he says, cleared the compound or snakes, he receives his money and carries off his prey, to let them loose on another man’s property, and whistle them up again for a new reward, for they are all his own tame snakes, and come to him when he blows his flute.

“I once had what I believe was a marvelous escape from being bitten by a cobra. I anu Tom Norris, an old friend of mine, were riding along the road ond moonlight night. It occurred to us that a horse race would be an agreeable variation to the routine of our somewhat monotonous horseback excursions. We were soon tearing along at break-neck speed, but the race was quickly ended. Before we had galloped a hundred yards my horse struck his foot against something, rolled over, and I ‘came a cropper.* I was a good deal shocked, and when I recovered myself my horse was out of sight. Neither I nor Tom Norris had the least idea in what direction he had gone, and while my friend galloped along one road I started on foot on another. I had walked about a mile, aud was just passing the little Post Office, when I saw something nearly four feet high directly in front of me. It was like an upraised stick, and when in my haste I had nearly walked over it, it shot straight toward me. Mechanically, I raised the short stick I carried in my hand and struck out. I took no aim whatever, and I am not all sure that H did not shut my eyes, like a young cricketer, as I delivered the blow. But it hit its marie, and, aa I afterward found, saved my life. For a cooly who came up a few seconds later with a torch held his light to the ground, when a full grown cffcra lay writhing helplessly with his nick broken. I was startled on that occasion; but I was far more disturbed at another time when, aa it afterward turned out, there was no snake there. It was the worst season of the year for venomous creatures, when Tom Norris

and myself were occupying a small bungalow in Jubbulpore. We slept in the same room, each of us having a lounge, and it was about 2 o’clock in the morning, and {fitch dirk, when I was awakened by something striking me on the back and felling, as the sound seemed to indicate, in a coil upon the floor. ‘What’s that?’ exclaimed my friend, who awoke at the same instant, and I made no i eply, for I had the strongest possible dislike to say what I believedit to be. ‘What’s that?’ he asked again; and then I answered, ‘I think it’s a snake, and he has tfitten

me; will you get up and go for a light?’ Tom Norris lay still for a while. Then he said: ‘Now, look here, old fellow, if a cobra has bitten you he won’t do you the least additional harm if he bites you again; but what is the use of my being bitten too? Hadn’t you better get up and go for the light yourself? 1 Could any logic have been more rear sonable? lat once got up, and after

some trouble procured a light, and we began our search for the snake. But first Tom Norris examined the place where I had been bitten, and his foce grew very grave, for there were the two punctures, and it seemed clear that a snake had injured me. We hunted about the bouse for ten minutes, and although I felt myself growing drowsy I began to hope that it was not a oobra, but some lesß venomous reptile that had bitten me. At hurt the mystery was solved. As we entered the bath

loom, a wildcat, that for some incomprehensible reason had taken refuge in the bungalow, went flying, half mad with fright, out of the window, carrying hair a dozen panes of glass with her in her exit In her confusion she had evidently jumped upon the bed, and her daws had penetrated my back, making two little holes precisely like the bite of a oobra. To say that I was relieved would give you a very poor idea of my sentiments as the cat sprang through the window. All my drowsiness vanished, and I slept no more that night. “The chief food of the cobra is the frog. After the rainy Besson these creatures fill the air with a load steady croaking all night. Occasionally,how ever, a shrill shriek is heard above the ordinary noise, and the practiced ear discerns the ciy of the unfortunate frog when a snake .his seized it. Early one morning, by the roadside, I found a cobra in the act of making his meal. He was slowly sucking the frog down his throat, tail first. I Killed the snake and released the frog, but for a long time the latter lay unable to move. Its eyes were bright, and its head was lively enough, but the rear part of its body seemed to be paralyzed; the hind legs, which had been down the snake’s throat, were helpless. Finally it contrived to dra& itself away in the long grass. “Formerly the Government gave a rupee for every dead cobra delivered to its agents, but I think the custom has been abandoned, for it was discovered that breeding yards had been established in various parts of the country, and numerous natives were making a comfortable living by rearing young, snakes.”