392 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ment had been given said everything was being done that 

 was possible and his presence was unnecessary. 



Inside of twenty-four hours the man's whole leg was 

 frightfully swollen, clear to the hip and had turned a 

 dark ugly blue. He was in great pain and the feeling was 

 as if the skin was being torn from his bones by red hot 

 pincers. 



The maximum was reached about the third day and 

 from that time the jdiscolciration gradually subsided 

 although at thirty days there were large blue blotches on 

 the hip and upper leg. Mr. Blood was unable to bear his 

 weight on the foot without pain for nearly six weeks, 

 and was bedridden for three full weeks. 



One of the most interesting cases was that of the 

 well known author, explorer and scientist, Mr. George 

 Wharton James. 



In the summer of 1901 Mr. James attended the Hopi 

 Snake Dance, a ceremony he had witnessed several 

 times before during his many years in Arizona. 



Mr. James was deeply interested in rattlesnakes, had 

 dissected many specimens, handled living ones fre- 

 quently and was at this time studying the problem of an 

 antidote for their bite. 



Returning from the dance he visited Phoenix where 

 he was an.xious to secure a quantity of the poison from 

 the rattlers in our possession. Fearful of the results he 

 was urged not to undertake the job but he insisted he 

 could handle them without any difficulty or danger. 



Rather reluctantly he was given the key to the cage. 

 At that time we had an unusually large and active Dia- 

 mond Back about five and a half feet long. Mr. James 

 grabbed his snakeship in the usual manner, about the 

 neck just back of the head. 



The snake showed fight from the first and the crowd 

 about him watched the affair with intense interest. 



Mr. James, perfectly cool and collected, asked us all 

 to observe the animal's actions. Slowly the snake pre- 

 pared to defend himself in his own way. 



His mouth was opened to its uttermost extent, the 

 jaws almost at right angles to the body, the ugly fangs 

 unhinged and erect, the enveloping sheath slowly reced- 

 ing from them. Meantime he was apparently slipping 

 slightly through the man's thumb and finger, so much 

 so that he gained considerably in length above the grasp. 

 It was probably a muscular elongation and possibly to 

 some extent the body of the snake slipped through the 

 almost vise-like grip in which he was held by the mere 

 nuiscular contraction and expansion of the struggling 

 reptile. 



.Suddenly with almost lightning-ljke rapidity the snake 

 gave its head a peculiar twist which threw its upper jaw 

 into such a position as to allow it to make what may be 

 called a side swipe at the lower part of Mr. James' 

 thumb. 



( hily one fang touched the flesh, but so strong was 

 ihc stroke that the needle-like weapon sank deep into the 

 tU'shy pan of the thumb and with a downward slash it 

 tore a >li(linf,' gash across the member, an inch long and 

 tlircixjuartfr.s of an inch deep. 



Never for a second did James lose his nerve and he was 

 the coolest man in the party. Still hanging onto his 

 snake he called on every one to note certain elements of 

 the attack. 



His thumb and wrist were drenched with the poison, 

 but he pointed to the fact that it had all come from the 

 fang that made the wound. He pried the snake's mouth 

 open and pointed out to the almost breathless onlookers 

 the empty gland or sac on one side and the full one on 

 the other. 



Wounded, though he was, the scientist in James was 

 stronger than the fear of a fatal result. There had 

 always been the belief that the ejection of the poison was 

 involuntary, that the very act of striking and sinking the 

 fangs into anything carried with it the expulsion of the 

 poison. 



The fact that in this instance only one sac had been 

 emptied convinced James that the snake absolutely con- 

 trolled the matter and that in his case at least, the snake 

 only released the poison that found its way through the 

 fang which did the work. 



Still holding the snake Mr. James, wholly unmindful 

 of his wounded thumb manipulated the head so that he 

 secured over half a teaspoon of the poison from the full 

 sac which was poured into a small vial he had provided 

 for the purpose. 



Then, and not until then, did he throw the snake back 

 into the cage and allow his wound to be looked after. 

 A tourniquet above the elbow was the first thing, 

 followe4 by liberal injections of permanganate with 

 continued applications of the hottest water he could stand. 

 The usual discoloration set in with terrible pains and 

 extreme soreness, especially in the abdomen, and for 

 several days he was a mighty sick man and it was about 

 two months before the hand and arm could be used. 

 I firmly believe the Only thing that saved him from 

 death was the fact that the point on the thumb where the 

 long, deep wound was made, was without large veins so 

 that the poison did not quickly enter "the venous system. 

 Otherwise nothing could have saved him for it was at 

 least three full minutes after the snake struck before 

 James ceased his scientific investigations and made any 

 efifort to save himself from a frightful death. 



Recently I wrote Mr. James about his experience and 

 especially as to the after effects. 



"The after results were singular," he writes. "For 

 over eighteen months my stomach swelled and solidified 

 every two or three months ; was as sore all over as a boil, 

 and suflfered intense agony for several days and then 

 would pass off. Some one advised me to go to the fa- 

 mous Passo Robles mud springs in southern California. 

 I did so and took a mud bath daily for ten days and 

 have never had a recurrence of the attacks." 



This aftermath of Mr. James' incident recalls the 

 well authenticated case of a man named Shindler, an 

 employee of the National Museum at Washington, D. C. 

 On June ist, 1882, Shindler was bitten on the finger by 

 a small coral snake. Violent pains followed, but in a 



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