ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1517 



COLUMBIAN CLKASSOVVS 

 Thes3 birds are so readily tamed that frequently they are reared by the Indians as pets. 



be close at hand. This fact led me to believe 

 that they must have had a sort of communi- 

 cating passage between some of the numerous 

 burrows. 



If the hand were held very still, the ground 

 squirrel would come right up and eat any 

 green leaf that was offered it, but the slightest 

 move sent it pell mell down the hole. 



Anti-venomous Serum. — We have received a 

 ver}' valuable shipment of tubes of anti-veno- 

 mous serum from the Institute of Serum Thera- 

 py, at Sao Paulo, Brazil. This serum is in- 

 tended specifically for the treatment of rattle- 

 snake bites and the Society is presenting a large 

 quantity to that branch of the U. S. Army 

 Medical Department detailed in the vicinity of 

 the Mexican botmdary, where large rattle- 

 snakes are numerous. Our Reptile House has 

 for years been a headquarters for quite fre- 

 quent calls for remedies needed in the treat- 

 ment of snake-bite. 



Accidents from poisonous serpents have 

 shown a decided increase during the past five 

 years, and we anticipate calls for assistance 

 during the coming summer. The supply of se- 

 rum will be available upon report of accident 

 from reliable sources, and in each case there 

 will be a charge of two dollars and a half for 

 each tube used. 



It should be understood that the tubes of 

 serum are not for sale, nor are they to be used 

 for general distribution prior to the report of 

 accidents. All currency received for tubes of 

 serum that are used will be employed in pur- 

 chasing poisonous snakes for experimental use 

 by the Brazilian Government. The Society 

 was fortunate in obtaining the supply of serum 

 through the courtesy of the Brazilian Ambas- 

 sador and Dr. Vital Brazil, who is Director 

 of the Institute of Serum Therapy. This able 

 toxicologist already has presented a fine series 

 of the South American venomous snakes to the 

 Park. Dr. Brazil is doing very wonderful 

 work in reducing the death rate in tropical 

 America from the bites of deadly reptiles. His 

 institute makes no charge for the tubes of anti- 

 toxin used in treating snake bite, but expects 

 that the issuance of each tube will result in a 

 venomous serpent being added to the collec- 

 tions of the Institute at Sao Paulo. A collec- 

 tion of one hundred and fifty rattlesnakes was 

 shipped by the Society to Dr. Brazil late in 

 April, but in courtesy for his great interest in 

 supplying the serum that we now have, we shall 

 make additional shipments during the coming 

 summer. Poison is repeatedly extracted from 

 the fangs of these reptiles and is used in im- 

 munizing the test animals that ultimately sup- 

 plv the anti-venomous serum. 



