442 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



Brazil may be considered as one of the countries most infested by 

 venomous serpents. Though they have completely disappeared from 

 the most frequented places, they are still extremely numerous in the 

 surrounding country, and their bites are a fearful source of danger to 

 the workmen of the coffee or sugar plantations who go with naked 

 feet. 



Two great genera of serpents live in Brazil, the Crotalus and the 

 Bothrops. They are found in the forests, the thickets, and the damp 

 places. Naturally rather timid, they flee as soon as disturbed by a 

 noise, but if by chance one of them is touched it turns upon and 

 angrily bites whoever molests it. So that if a passerby inadvert- 

 ently puts his foot on one he is at once bitten. Tins happens very 

 frequently to beasts or horses when they disturb the peace of a snake. 

 Hunters dread them for their dogs when the latter search in the 

 brushwood. 



According to statistics, up to 1906 there died annually in the State 

 of St. Paul alone more than 240 persons from the bites of snakes of 

 the Crotalus and Bothrops genera. Since the distribution of serum 

 from the sero therapeutic institution of Butantan, the number of 

 fatal cases has diminished at a rapid rate. 



This serotherapeutic institution consists of a large number of 

 buildings separated by courts. They include the laboratory, the 

 cells for the snakes, the stables for the inoculated horses, the store- 

 houses for the manipulation of the serum, and the dwellings of the 

 staff. Everything is perfectly organized. 



Many obscure points relative to the physiology of serpents still 

 require study. In order to better- know the habits and all the details 

 of the lives of serpents, Dr. Vital Brazil, the eminent director of this 

 institution, conceived a surely novel idea. He has made an inclosure 

 with thick walls, not so high but that one can easily look over them. 

 Within there is a large space, a kind of rustic inclosure, covered in 

 places with luxuriant vegetation, traversed by wide paths, with 

 glades here and there. A large interior ditch, close to the wall and 

 filled with water, forms a second barrier and prevents the escape of 

 the dangerous guests that people these thickets. The most venomous 

 serpents are to be placed here where they are to live at liberty. When 

 I was at Butantan last year the construction of this place was almost 

 complete. At the present time, without doubt, Dr. Vital Brazil and 

 his fellow workers have already made many curious observations 

 *while walking to and fro in this frightful paradise, in this garden of 

 snakes. 



Before proceeding it will be well to state some theoretical concep- 

 tions which will help to explain the importance of the work accom- 

 plished by this institution. 



