EDITOR'S CORNER. 



Percy Selous is dead. He fell a victim 

 to his devotion to science. As all readers 

 of Recreation know, he has for many 

 years been a close student of natural his- 

 tory in its various branches, and especially 

 of reptiles. He has captured many of 

 these, and has always had a number of 

 them in his house or in his laboratory. A 

 few weeks ago he took a number of 

 snakes into his house to protect them from 

 the chill of the early spring weather, and 

 his kindness and tenderness of heart in 

 thus caring for them resulted in his death. 

 Mr. W. B. Dupree, a close friend of Mr. 

 Selous, writes me these particulars of the 

 sad affair : 



Mr. Selous was bitten by a large moc- 

 casin snake, Agkistrodon piscivorous, 

 Thursday afternoon, April 5, and died 

 from the effects of the bite Saturday 

 evening, 54 hours later. 



He was giving the reptile, a thick- 

 bodied Florida specimen, a sun bath. In 

 putting it back into its cage the door 

 closed on its tail and the animal writhed 

 with pain. Mr. Selous opened the door 

 again and took hold of the tail to push 

 it in. As he did so the moccasin turned 

 quickly and with the marvelous rapidity 

 of venomous snakes when biting, buried 

 its fangs in the ring finger of Mr. Selous' 

 left hand. The fangs sank deep and only 

 after violent efforts did the snake 

 wrench itself free. Thus Mr. Selous re- 

 ceived the maximum quantity of venom. 

 The first thing he did was to secure 

 the snake safely. Then he looked for 

 his pocket knife so he could excise the 

 wound, but was unable to find it. At 

 this juncture he neglected a precaution 

 that might have saved his life. Instead 

 of tightly ligaturing the finger so as to 

 retard the diffusion of the venom, he 

 merely sucked the wound and sought his 

 physician. Fifteen minutes elapsed ere 

 he reached the doctor's office. By that 

 time pain was racking his arm, showing 

 that absorption was under way. 



He told the doctor what had happened 

 and said he knew the bite would kill 

 him ; that he was acquainted with the 

 snake and there was no hope. The 

 wound was washed with ammonia, stim- 

 ulants were given, and hypodermic in- 

 jections of strychnin (1-30 grain) were 

 administered every half hour until the 

 characteristic effect of the drug, tetanic 

 convulsions, was observed. Other doc- 

 tors came in consultation and everything 

 that medical skill could devise was tried 

 in the attempt to baffle the action of the 

 venom in the sufferer's system. 



Nothing availed. Mr. Selous' arm 

 swelled enormously and blisters broke 

 out all over it. The swelling spread 

 around his back, chest and up into the 

 neck, all the affected surface becoming a 

 deep red color from arterial perforation. 

 The pain was intense, but consciousness 

 was retained most of the time. Being a 

 man of robust constitution and in fine 

 health, he fought nobly for life, and suc- 

 cumbed only after a most valiant 

 struggle. 



Thus passed a man and a naturalist in 

 all that the words imply. An ardent 

 lover of nature and animals, an instruc- 

 tive and entertaining writer, and one 

 whose friendship was worth the having, 

 his untimely death comes as a personal 

 bereavement to all who knew him. 

 Though I have never had the pleasure 

 of meeting Mr. Selous, I long ago learned 

 to love him as a brother. Our corre- 

 spondence has extended over 5 or 6 years, 

 and in all my experience I have never 

 known a man who was more studiously 

 kind, courteous and thoughtful in his 

 treatment of his fellow i-ien. Never have I 

 made a request of or suggestion to him 

 that did not receive prompt and careful 

 attention. I have always been able to read 

 between the lines of his many letters, if 

 not in them, that he would gladly have 

 done more for me than I asked. 



Mr. Selous' loss will be keenly felt by 

 all students of nature, and his family and 

 relatives may feel assured that in their 

 bereavement they have the keei-^t sym- 

 pathy of all readers of Recreation. 



Governor Roosevelt has signed the bill 

 appropriating 300,000 to the New York 

 Zoological Society on condition that it 

 raise $200,000 by private subscription. 

 $175,000 of this amount has already been 

 subscribed and paid in, and the officers of 

 the society are now hustling for the re- 

 mainder. Some one of New York's many 

 millionaires should send a check for this 

 amount without further delay, in order to 

 render the State appropriation available. 

 With a part of this additional generous do- 

 nation from the people of the State the 

 society will build the antelope house, the 

 monkey house and the administration 

 house. The balance will be expended in 

 further improvements on the grounds. 



I want 10 copies each of March, May, 

 June, August and December, '98, Recrea- 

 tion. Subscribers who have these on file, 

 and who do not care to keep them for 

 binding, will confer a favor on me by mail- 

 ing them to this office, wrapped flat. 



73 



