THE KOMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



minated by the alligator, having previously 

 drowned the unfortunate man, appearing on an 

 opposite sand-bank with the body, and there de- 

 vouring it.* 



It is in this class of animals that we find the 

 most terrible of all creatures ; more potent than 

 the roused lion, the enraged elephant, the deadly 

 shark, or the mailed alligator. In the whole 

 range of animal existence, there is none that can 

 compare with the venomous snakes for the deadly 

 fatality of their enmity ; the lightning stroke of 

 their poisonous fangs is the unerring signal of a 

 swift dissolution, preceded by torture the most 

 horrible. The bite of the American rattlesnake 

 has been known to produce death in two minutes. 

 Even where the consummation is not so fearfully 

 rapid, its delay is but a brief prolongation of the 

 intense suffering. The terrible symptoms are thus 

 described:— a sharp pain in the part, which be- 

 comes swollen, shining, hot, red ; then livid, cold, 

 and insensible. The pain and inflammation 

 spread, and become more intense; fierce shooting 

 pains are felt in other parts, and a burning fire 

 pervades the whole body. The eyes begin to 

 water abundantly; then come swoonings, cold 

 sweats, and sharp pains in the loins. The skin 

 becomes deadly pale or deep yellow, while a black 

 watery blood runs from the wound, which changes 

 to a yellowish matter. Violent headache succeeds, 

 and giddiness, faintness, and overwhelming ter- 

 rors, burning thirst, gushing discharges of blood 

 from the orifices of the body, intolerable fetor of 

 breath, convulsive hiccoughs, and death. 



Mr. Francis T. Rucklandt has described the 

 awful effects of a dose of poison received from the 



* " Campaigns and Cruises in Venezuela," vol. i. p. 59. 

 + "Curiosities of Nat. Hist.," p. 223. 

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