Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/147

It is a common belief that the venom of the viper, and other serpents, is almost innocuous in winter, and that its virulence is proportionate to the heat of the weather, whether at home or abroad; hence that the snakes of tropical climes are more deadly venomous than those of temperature countries, on account of the greater heat. Recently Dr. Guyon has set himself to investigate this subject, especially whether the poison is innocuous in winter, with the following results:—

Regarding its violence, he says there is a general belief abroad that it is much more powerful in summer than in winter; but this he does not consider well authenticated, and quotes against it the case of one Drake, and exhibitor of snakes, who, having in the summer of 1827, at Rouen, handled a rattlesnake which he took to be dead, while it was only benumbed by the cold, was bitten by it and died in the course of nine hours. From a considerable number of observations, Dr. Guyon concludes that the intensity or power of the venom is less owing to difference of season than to the length of time it has been accumulating in the reservoir of the reptile; and the greatest accumulation necessarily occurs during winter, because the animal is in a torpid state and does not take any food during that season. So it was in the case of Drake, and so Dr. Guyon found it in that of a horned viper which had been given to him at the caravanserai of Sidi-Makhlouf, Algeria. This reptile had been put into a bottle, which had since remained hermetically closed. It had been in there for six weeks, without food and without air, and looked quite dead, since it could not stire in the bottle, which it filled entirely. And yet, on opening the bottle, the doctor found the reptile perfectly sound, and saw it kill a large fowl instantaneously with its sting. Our author quotes another case, that of a scorpion, that had been kept in a bottle for a long time, and on being released killed two sparrows in less than a minute, and a pigeon in three hours.

A circumstance has come to our knowledge which occurred in Warwickshire, of a boy that was bitten by a viper during the winter.

"The 19th of January, 1864, was an unusually warm and sunny day for the time of year. A boy, aged 11 years, started for a walk to Kenilworth, about two miles from the village where he lived. Under one part of the road flows a small brook. The boy had his dog with him, and he wished to see whether he would follow him across, as the stream was shallow, and there were some large stones to step upon. The opposite bank is rathe: steep, and there were several large pieces of wood and roots projecting from it. One of his leggings was caught in the roots and became unfastened, whereupon he sat down on one of the stumps to refasten it and watch his dog in the water, but not for more than two or three minutes. They then started off again, and had not gone more than a quarter of a mile before the boy felt a sharp pain in his wrist. On looking at his wrist he saw plainly, and to his great horror, three little punctures and places, as though a nettle had stung him. His first impression was that he had been bitten by an adder, and he immediately tried to bite out the piece of flesh. The first time he could not manage it, and after two unsuccessful attempts, the third time he bit out the flesh, sucked the wounded part, and at intervals spitting out the poisoned blood.

"Being fond of natural history, he remembered reading some of the particulars about the bite of an adder, and was frequently in the habit of expressing his fear of going where the grass was long, lest he should meet with one. He went on a little farther, but feeling faint and weak, and getting frightened about the bite, he returned home. On arriving there he could hardly speak, from excitement and the haste he had made; but his first words were: 'Mother, I think I have been bitten by an adder: though I did not see one, I feel and see on my wrist the hard white swelling which always comes after a bite.'

"His mother immediately put his arm into very hot water, and then applied a bread and oil poultice. When the doctor arrived, he said all was done right, and the boy had saved his own life by the courage and presence of mind he had shown in at once biting out the piece of flesh. The poison, however, had swelled up his arm through his veins as high as his shoulder; but by the next day this black streak of poison apparent in the veins of his arm had completely disappeared, and in the course of a few weeks the boy was perfectly restored to health."

The poison apparatus of the viper consists of the gland in which it is secreted, the duct or canal along which it travels, and the fang by means of which it is injected. The gland is placed at the side of the head (a), and consists of an assemblage of lobes.