FATAL ACCIDENTS 313 



was following the traces of his game along with his Indian 

 hunter, when suddenly his companion uttered a loud scream. 

 He had come too near a labarri snake, and the dense 

 thicket prevented his escape. Fortunately the first glance of 

 the distinguished naturalist fell upon the reptile, which with 

 extended jaws and projecting fangs was ready to dart upon 

 the Indian, but at the same moment, struck by a ball from 

 the prince's rifle, lay writhing on the ground. The Indian, 

 though otherwise a strong-nerved man, was so paralysed by 

 fear, that it was some time before he could recover his self- 

 possession — a proof, among others, that it is superfluous to 

 attribute a fascinating power to the venomous snakes, as the 

 effects of terror are quite sufficient to explain why smaller 

 animals, imable to flee the impending danger, become their 

 unresisting victims, and even seem, as it were, wantonly to 

 rush upon destruction. Thus Poppig saw on the banks of the 

 Huallaga an unfortunate frog, which, after being for some time 

 unable to move, at length made a desperate leap towards a large 

 snake that was all the time fixing its eye upon it, and thus paid 

 the confusion of its senses with the loss of its life. 



A poor Indian girl that accompanied Schomburgk on his 

 travels through the forests of Guiana was less fortunate than 

 the Prince of Neu Wied's companion. She was bitten by a 

 trigonocephalus, and it was dreadful to see how soon the powers 

 of life began to ebb under the fatal effects of the poison. The 

 wound was immediately sucked, and spirits of ammonia, the 

 usual remedy, profusely applied both externally and inwardly, 

 but all in vain. In less than three minutes, a convulsive 

 trembb'ng shook the whole body, the face assumed a cadaverous 

 aspect, dreadful pains raged in the heart, in the back, less in 

 the wound itself; the dissolved blood flowed from the ears and 

 nose, or was spasmodically ejected by the stomach ; the pulse 

 rose to 120-130 in the minute; the paralysis which first be- 

 numbed the bitten foot spread farther and farther, and in less 

 than eight minutes the unfortunate girl was no longer to be 

 recognised. The same day the foot swelled to shapeless dimen- 

 sions, and she lay senseless until, after an agony of sixty-three 

 hours, death relieved her from her sufferings. 



A great many antidotes have been recommended against 

 serpentine poison, but their very number proves their inef- 



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