86 POISONOUS SNAKES AND SNAKE POISONS. 



Theo. Neumann, who also exhibited an interesting col- 

 lection of serpents preserved in alcohol. 



POISONOUS SNAKES AND SNAKE POISONS. 



BY DR. TH, NEUMANN. 



In all times and amongst almost all nations, snakes 

 have fixed the attention of the human race, and it is 

 conceivable that they have played an important roll 

 from times immemorial in the tales as well as in the 

 belief of people. Snakes are mentioned in the earliest 

 chapters of the Old Testament, as comtemporaries of the 

 first men ; the great tempter of mankind assumed the 

 form of such a creature and under this disguise crept 

 into paradise. When in the wilderness, the Jews were 

 troubled by fiery flying snakes, and Moses himself made, 

 after the command of God, a brazen serpent which he 

 placed on a pole so that those who saw it might live. Many 

 of the ancient nations, notably the Egyptians and Baby- 

 lonians, considered snakes sacred and worshipped them ; 

 while in Hindoo mythology they are believed to be evil 

 spirits. History teaches us that the Old Greeks and 

 Romans bestowed godlike honors on snakes ; the latter 

 consecrated them to the god ^sculapius, and he himself 

 was worshipped in his temple in the form of a snake. 



Such views, however, are not reserved for ancient 

 times only. When Cortez conquered Mexico, he found 

 that the inhabitants adored snakes as their gods, and the 

 very same thing can be seen still now a days among 

 many barbarous tribes of Africa, Asia and America. 

 The Galla in Africa look upon snakes as the originators 

 of the human race and pay them respects due a god. 

 When Huglin, a traveler through Africa, had killed an 

 African python within the territory of the Dinka 

 negroes, those people were very much disturbed, and 



^2 



