Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1899 — Surgery on Snakes. [ARTICLE]

Surgery on Snakes.

Snakes in captivity, it seems, sometimes find difficulty in getting rid of the skin which is shed every year. An Australian diamond snake in the Bombay museum, which appeared likely to succumb, was quite blind and refused all food. A European sympathizer therefore pressed the native snakekeeper into service to hold the snake, and himself, with a pair of sharp-pointed scissors, performed the delicate and risky operation of clipping away the membrane which adhered to the eyes. J. M. Phipson, editor-df the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, performed a far more dangerous operation a couple of years ago. His patient was a large hamadryad, or king cobra, the most vicious and poisonous of all Indian snakes, and a most powerful creature to boot. Mr. Phipson gripped the king cobra around the neck ( and a native literally held on for his life further down, and when the reptile’s struggles were over a third man, armed with a surgeon’s scalpel, removed eight layers of membrane from each eye.— London Sketch. During the 6 o’clock rush for the street cars two women simultaneously entered a crowded Indiana avenue car. A large man made room for the smaller of the two women, in appearance a working girl, while the more fashionably dressed girl remained standing. “Thank you very much,” said the first girl, while the other stared over their heads. The man looked uncomfortably at the young woman standing, and finally offered her his seat, which she accepted without a word. “Thank you very much,” reiterated the first little girl, with a sly smile. “Beg pardon?” said the haughty neighbor, while several persons laughed. . “Nothing personal,” she replied. “I was just thanking the gentleman tn behalf of our sex.”—Chicago Inter Ocean.