Oti the Poison of the Rattlesnake. 



85 



Abt. XVIII.— ^cco2^# of the death of Mr Drake by the bite 

 of a Rattlesnake, 



At the meeting of the Academy of Sciences of France on the 

 9th April last, some documents were presented by M. Dumeril, 

 connected with the death of Mr Drake by the bite of a rattle- 

 snake, forming part of a collection of reptiles which that per- 

 son had exhibited at London, and had taken to France for 

 the same purpose. These documents were transmitted to the 

 Academy by the Mittister of the Interior ; and seem to have 

 excited fears in some of the members, lest, the climate of France 

 being favourable, some of these dangerous reptiles might escape 

 and propagate. 



From these documents it appears, that Mr Drake arrived 

 at an inn in Rouen on the 8th February with three live rattle- 

 snakes and some young crocodiles, and that, notwithstanding 

 his care to preserve them from cold on the road, he saw with 

 grief on his arrival that the finest of the three was dead. The 

 dead animal was removed from the cage, and the cage itself, 

 with the other two, were taken into the dining-room, and 

 placed near the stove. Here Mr Drake endeavoured to rouse 

 them with a stick ; but, perceiving that one of the two gave no 

 signs of animation, he opened the cage, took the serpent by 

 the head and tail, and approaching a window to ascertain 

 by handling if life was extinct, the animal turned its head 

 half round, and fixed one of its fangs in the posterior exter- 

 nal part of the left hand. Mr Drake shrieked, pronounced 

 some words in English, according to the reports, and was re- 



