388 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 7, 1888 



are over. It should be mentioned that the South Ameri- 

 can plants Aya-pana and Vejuco du Quaco, reputed as 

 antidotal to snake venom, also belong to the genus Eupa- 

 toria. Some little attention has been given to this re- 

 puted antidote, as the writer believes that if it really is 

 of benefit in snake poison, it must be so owing to the 

 analogy of its therapeutic effect with that of jaborandi, 

 both beingtonic, diaphoretic, diuretic and laxative. 



In 1873 Drs. Fayrer, Brunton and Richards instituted a 

 series of experiments with a view to determining whether 

 continued artificial respiration in cases of snake bite would 

 prolong lif e,and thereby give the system a chance to elimin- 

 ate the poison. Th ey were successful in pro-longing life, but 

 eventually all the animals died from the venom. It may 

 be worth while to further mention a few popular remedies 

 that have been recommended and used from time to time. 



Cazentre, in Journ. des Conn. Med. Chir., Par., 1850, 

 182, recommends cedron, the seeds, if in powder, three or 

 four grains bruised and put in a teaspoonf'ul of brandy or 

 alcohol and swallowed, powder put on wound also. 

 Natives chew it up and swallow. Viand-Grand-Marais 

 in the Rev. Med. Franc, et Etrang. Par., 1874, T., 362, 

 recommends the same substance, giving statements of 

 cases cured. He also strongly commends the guaco. 



The liquor potassa cure has met with some degree of 

 favor, but the evidence is conflicting, as the following 

 notes will show: 



Dr. J. Shortt, in Med. Times and Qaz., London, 1873, 

 II., 215, reports a case in which lie gave to a man bitten 

 by a venomous snake, Bungarus arcuatus, in tbe first 

 forty-eight hours 72oz. of brandy and 4Joz. of liquor 

 potassa by the mouth; l4oz. of brandy, 3^oz. of liquor 

 potassa, by eneinata, 4oz. in a bath. Gave 20 minims in 

 loz. of brandy every twenty minutes, wound scarified 

 and alkaline bath given. Bitten May 16, got well May 27. 

 Dr. Shortt claims that this is the third case of snake' bite 

 saved by the potash treatment. H. Esmond White re- 

 ports a case, p. 413 same journal, in whioh potassa treat- 

 ment with brandy failed, death occurring in one hour 

 and twenty-five minutes. 



Dr. E. B. Shapleigh reports a case in the Am. Jour. 

 Med. Set., Philadelphia, April, 1869, n. s., 392, in which 

 incisions were made in vicinity of injury. Brandy was 

 administered freely and caustic potassa applied locally, 

 but the patient died in forty minutes. 



A host of other substances have been recommended, 

 such as carbolic acid, olive oil, viper's fat, to say nothing 

 of scores of plants and roots, but space will not admit of 

 a discussion of these at this time. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH EXTRACTINE PANCREATINE, 



De Lacerda announced his opinion that the injection 

 of pancreatine into the tissues would produce the same 

 effect as venom, and the experiments of others seeming 

 to confirm this theory, notably those of Bechamp and 

 Baltus in Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci., Par., February and 

 March, 1880, which were as follows: "Injected into 

 femoral of dog 3 grams of pancreatine at 9 A. M., died 

 at 5 P. M. Another case: Bloody faeces, vomiting, emis- 

 sion of mine: lived ten days. Some got well." The con- 

 clusions of Bechamp and* Baltus are that the infra-vas- 

 cular injection of pure pancreatine produces functional 

 symptoms of great gravity, and produces death if the 

 injected material is about O.gr., 15 par kilogrammes of 

 the weight of the animal. Digestion seems to diminish 

 the toxic effects of the pancreatine. Injected pancreatine 

 is only partly eliminated by the kidneys, and when found 

 is unaltered in character. 



In view of these facts it was determined to try the 

 effect of pancreatine on fowls. Through the courtesy of 

 Messrs. Fairchild Bros, and Foster, of New York city, 

 the writer was furnished with a remarkably pure sample 

 of the Extractum pancreatis. This was used in solution 

 with distilled water in the following proportion: One 

 half dram of Extractum pancreatis to one-half fluid 

 ounce of distilled water. 



Nov. 1887—12-A0 P. M.— Injected black pigeon with 25 

 minims of pancreatis solution in right thigh. Bird 

 commenced to droop at once, feathers ruffled, 

 whether from fright or injury by hypodermic 

 needle uncertain. 

 2:30 P. M. — Bird seems better. 

 Nov. 5.— Pigeon in normal condition, eating heartily. 

 Nov. 6 and 7. — Bird entirely well. 

 12:29 P. M. — Injected hen No. 2 with 75 minims of solu- 

 tion of extract pancreatis (i dram to loz. of water) 

 in right thigh. 

 12:35 P. M. — Respiration much quickened, mouth gap- 

 ing. 



1:30 P. M. — Fowl eating corn, but seemed inclined to 

 lie down. Respiration still rather fast and mouth 

 gaping, though not as much as at first. 

 3 P, M. — Fowl in about the same condition as at 1:30. 

 Nov. 9. — Hen seems to be as healthy as ever, and has a 

 good appetite. 

 The next experiment, as will be seen from the notes, 

 was really a very severe test and would seem to indicate 

 that pancreatine, if poisonous, must be very much feebler 

 in action than snake venom. 



Nov. 10—1 P. M. — Injected in both legs and breast of 

 fowl 25 minims of sol. ext. pancreatis (\ dram to ^oz. 

 distilled water) in each part. 

 1:05 P. M. — Fowl uneasy, and breathing labored, in- 

 clined to Jie down. 

 2:80 P. M. — Fowl seems to have lost use of legs; breath- 

 ing fast with mouth open. 

 Nov. 11 — 11 A. M. — Fowl not able to stand, but sits down 

 with wings outstretched. Respiration labored. 

 Defecates freely. 

 2:30 P. M.— Fowl in about the same condition as this 

 morning. Has eaten a small quantity of corn. 

 Nov. 12— 11 A. M.— Fowl unable to stand; eats lying 

 down; defecates freely. 

 2:30 P. M. — Fowl in same condition. 

 Nov . IS— Fowl in same condition. Paralysis of hindpart 

 of body, unable to stand without leaning against 

 something. Loss of power in muscles of the rec- 

 tum. 



Nov. 14 — Same condition. 

 Nov. 15 — Same condition. 



Nov. 16— Fowl a little stronger in her legs. Was taken 



from the cage and tied with a cord so as to allow 



of more liberty. 

 Nov. 17 — Fowl a good deal stronger than yesterday. 

 Nov. 18 — Chicken can stand on her legs, but puts one 



before the other to keep from losing its balance 



while eating. 



Nov. 21 — Chicken very nearly recovered, can use its legs 



almost normally. Eats well. 

 Nov. 25— Entirely well. 



Several other experiments were tried with Extractum 

 pancreatis, but without definite result. 



Those who have read de Lacerda's work on serpent 

 venom will notice the similarity of symptoms in his cases 

 treated with pancreatine and our own, except that in no 

 case did we lose a single subject, while several of his 

 perished. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH CROTALUS VENOM IN SNAKES AND 

 LIZARDS. 



Fontana, in his celebrated work on poisons, states as a 

 law that the venom of a serpent is not a poison for itself 

 or for other species, whether harmless or otherwise, and 

 a few interesting experiments have been tried with a 

 view to determine the question, particularly as a mass 

 of conflicting evidence exists. Weir Mitchell in his early 

 work was convinced that the poison of Crotalus, when 

 injected hypodermically into the same species, could kill, 

 but in his last volume he states this is not the case. 

 Fayrer does not believe that the poison of cobra is 

 poisonous to itself, while Vincent Richards holds an 

 opposite view. Dr. J. Dormet publishes in Nature, 

 London, 1883-4, XXIX., p. 504, an account of a black snake 

 of Australia, which, being held forcibly and provoked, 

 turned and bit itself just behind the head, death taking 

 place in one minute. Our experiments show that Crotalus 

 venom is not poisonous to rattlesnakes, eutaenias (garter 

 snakes) or lizards. The first experiment was upon 

 Eutcenia sirtalis, the common garter snake. 

 Oct. 28 — 12:15 P. M. — Injected 2 drops of glycerine venom 



and 3 drops of water into muscular tissue of belly 



of Eutcenia. 



3 P. M. — Snake in as good condition as before injection, 

 Oct. 29— Snake all right. 

 12:20 P. M. — Injected 3 drops of glycerine venom and 



3 drops of water into muscular tissue of belly of 



Crotalus. 



3 P. M. — Snake as lively as ever, and shows no effect 

 whatever of the venom. 

 Oct. 30— Snake all right. 

 12:30 P. M. — Injected 5 minims of venom solution and 

 5 minims of water into same Eutmiia used before. 

 No result. Injected 10 minims into small Crotalus, 

 no result having been obtained by 5 minims. 

 Oct. 31— No result. 



Allowed large vigorous Crotalus to strike Eutcenia (the 

 same one used before) twice in muscles of the back. 

 Nov. 1 — No result. 

 Nov. 4 — No result. 



Nov. 8—12 M.— The Eutcenia which had been struck be- 

 fore was again struck by an active rattler, who 

 held on well. 

 1:30 P. M. — No result. 

 3 P. M.— No result. 

 Nov, 9— No result. 



Dec. 12— -12:05 P.M.— Injected 5 minims of rattlesnake 

 venom solution in 10 drops of water, into muscu- 

 lar tissue of back of Heloderma (Gila monster), 

 which had been in confinement for some time, and 

 was not very strong. 



Dee. 15— All right. Injected 10 drops more of venom 

 into the right side of the belly of the same Helo- 

 derma. 



Dec. 17 — No result. Injected 15 drops more of venom 



into muscles of bellv of same Heloderma. 

 Dee. 20— AU right. 



Dec. 22— Injected 25 drops of Crotalus venom solution 

 into back of another Heloderma, followed by 25 

 drops more into flesh of belly. Absolutely no re- 

 sult. 



Dec. 23 — Injected 25 drops of Crotalus venom solution 

 into the back of a small hog nose snake (Heterodon 

 platyrhinos) with no result, notwithstanding the 

 reptile was weak and sickly and had been in con- 

 finement without food for over four months. 

 These experiments, so far as they have gone, seem to 



prove conclusively that Fontana's statement made as 



early as 1776 is correct. 



THE UTILITY OF HAWKS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As Dr. Ellzey considers the advice I strove to impart to 

 him as beneath rather than above criticism, he does me 

 particular honor in wasting on my account a whole 

 column of your valuable space. If you will extend to 

 me the courtesy of your columns, I should like to call 

 some further attention to a few salient points in his last 

 communication. 



We are asked how the slate-colored hawk does exist if 

 not as a species. I repeat, that as a nominal species the 

 slate-colored hawk does not exist; though with his 

 supreme contempt for "the school jargon of technical 

 descriptions and names" Dr. Ellzey may be content to 

 drag out from its shroud of antiquity this ambiguous ver- 

 nacular designation, which has no specific meaning to 

 the ornithologist, who likes to give to his science the dig- 

 nified feature of an exact and systematic nomenclature 

 which shall prevent the possibility of misconstruction by 

 sensible people. 



Dr. Ellzey informs us that he "takes issue with all who 

 defend the roughleg hawk." Is he aware that he herein 

 takes issue with some of our most eminent ornithologists, 

 men whose experiences and investigations are far more 

 comprehensive and valuable than those of any one 

 "sportsman and practical shooter"? From a series of 

 letters relating to this question, which were written by 

 prominent ornithologists and were published in the For- 

 est and Stream some time ago, the following extracts 

 may serve to show in what estimation most of our Rap- 

 tores, and especially the rough-legged hawks, are held by 

 men who are fully competent to instruct the general pub- 

 lic on this point. Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ornithologist of 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture, says: "Strange as 

 it may appear to the average farmer [Dr. Merriam might 

 have added, to the average 'sportsman and practical 

 shooter' also], the largest hawks are the ones that do the 

 most good. Foremost among these are the rough-legged 

 and marsh hawks, which do not meddle with poultry, and 

 rarely prey upon wild birds." Mr. Robert Ridgway 

 writes as follows: "Of all the species which you name, 

 there are only two which, according to my best judg- 

 ment, are at all destructive to game or poultry; these 

 being Cooper's, hawk and the great horned owl. The 

 rest, with the possible exception of the sharp-shinned 



hawk, my experience leads me to regard as decidedly 

 beneficial to man, their food consisting very largely, if 

 not chiefly, of the smaller rodents, field mice' especially." 

 The following is quoted from Mr. Lucien M. Turner: "Two 

 or three species of hawks (those belonging to the genus 

 Archibuteo) are diurnal mouse-catchers of all birds." 



Now, if Dr. Ellzey will for a moment lay aside his an- 

 tipathy to the "jargon of technical descriptions," and 

 consult some authentic "convenient term book," he will 

 find that the rough-legged hawk is the most widely dis- 

 tributed American member of the genus Archibuteo, and 

 thus the good words which Mr. Turner speaks on behalf 

 of this genus fall most largely to the share of the rough- 

 leg. 



Dr. Ellzey alludes to the opinions I may have formed 

 regarding himself, etc. Of his personal, moral or mental 

 attributes I have formed absolutely no conception, for 

 they in no wise pertain to the point at issue. His opin- 

 ions and prejudices alone I question, and in justice to the 

 hawks, I criticise them openly; but to convince the 

 average "sportsman and practical shooter" that his knowl- 

 edge on such a point is not profoundly more vast than 

 that of our best "trained scientists." is, I fear, a hopeless 

 task. Evan M. Evans. 



Englewood, N. J, 



Birds of the Farallon Islands.— The Farallon 

 Islands are a group of rocks in the Pacific Ocean lying 

 about thirty-five miles west of San Francisco, California. 

 Their bird fauna was hastily investigated in the summer 

 of 1885 and spring of 1887 by Mi-. W. Otto Emerson and 

 the results of his observations embodied in a paper by 

 Mr. Walter E. Bryant entitled "Birds and Eggs from the 

 Farallon Islands." This paper was read before the Cali- 

 fornia Academy of Sciences in December last, and has 

 just been published. These desolate islands are favorite 

 breeding grounds for various species of water birds, some 

 of which occur there in such numbers as to fairly cover 

 the rocks. The land birds found are for the most part 

 stragglers carried theere by storms, or lost in the- fog. 

 The breeding water birds are abundant in the following 

 order: 1, murre; 2, western gull; 3, cormorants (three 

 species); 4, pigeon guillemot; 5, tufted puffin; 6, Cassin's 

 auklet; 7, ashy petrel. Eighty-one species of birds are 

 recorded, of which over one-half are land birds, and in- 

 teresting notes on the various birds accompany the names. 

 The Farallons are a great resort of Greek and Italian 

 eggers from San Francisco, who illegally destroy vast 

 numbers of eggs each season. 



"That reminds me." 

 233. 



JIM REED is one of those luckless and brainless wights 

 who would willingly go supperless to bed if he could 

 play a practical joke on somebody or get a chance to 

 ridicule them because of some mishap, and as a conse- 

 quence everybody in camp was on the qui vive to get a 

 joke on Jim, which resulted in his being the butt of all. 



He got a laugh at me that he enjoyed and improved to 

 the utmost, and it came about in this way. One day I 

 picked up my shotgun, which I had kept loaded for 

 chicken hawks, and while yet in my house I cocked it in 

 haste, holding the muzzle elevated, but as luck, or care- 

 lessness, would have it, my thumb slipped off the hammer 

 and the gun was discharged, the charge of shot passing 

 through the canvas ceiling of the room and out through 

 the roof near the eaves of the house. Jim happened to 

 be near, heard the report of the gun, saw the shingles 

 fly, and he came running in to learn the cause of the mis- 

 adventure. When he found there was no harm done be- 

 yond a hole in the ceiling and roof that could easily be 

 repaired, he was immensely pleased to find that he had a 

 good joke on the writer, and for some little time there- 

 after when he would see me coming he would gather a 

 crowd of men and discourse upon my being a "crack 

 shot,'' how, in order to hit a house, it was necessary for 

 me to get inside, close the doors and then shoot. How he 

 wore the joke threadbare I need not relate, but I suffered 

 in apparent good humor, and was content to bide my 

 time, hoping to be able to return the compliment, and 

 the opportunity came much sooner than I had hoped for 

 or expected. 



Late one night some drunken fellows went to a board- 

 ing house kept by Jim's father-in-law and demanded 

 supper, which, because of the hour and their condition, 

 was refused them; they were disposed to cause a disturb- 

 ance, however, and Jim, hearing the rumpus, rushed 

 down to the house to "take a hand and quell the riot." 

 Jim's presence did not have the quieting effect he had 

 anticipated. He then urged that the presence of ladies 

 should temper their exuberance, but without avail, and 

 he then bethought him to make a show of what would 

 look like business by drawing his revolver. In pulling it 

 from his hip pocket it was discharged, and Jim was 

 "creased." The hurt was not a grievous one, as it merely 

 cut the skin for about two inches in length; but Jim was 

 fearful that it might become generally known, and he 

 begged those present to say nothing about the matter. 

 He gave the boys sundry inducements to win their silence, 

 and hoped he had heard the last of it; but "murder will 

 out," and a friend "gave the joke away" to me. This 

 was just what I wanted, and for days I courted Jim's 

 society, but he was quite shy of me, and very mum in 

 regard to my shooting scrape. I knew that his desire to 

 air a joke at somebody else's expense would soon get the 

 bstter of his discretion, and so I waited patiently, getting 

 him in good humor and allaying his suspicions by laugh- 

 ing "with counterfeited glee at all his jokes, for many a 

 joke had he." 



The time came for Jim's undoing, and yet he heeded it 

 not, he was as full of fun that day as a young colt, and 

 entirely off his guard. A party of gentlemen had come 

 into town from Eureka, a neighoring mining camp. I 

 sauntered down town with the feeling that the chance 

 woidd occur for Jim to relate his little story, and then I 

 would pay him back with liberal interest. The moment 

 he set eyes upon me he gathered the party, and calling 

 me to them, related the circumstances and manner of 

 my "hitting my own house." When he had concluded 

 there was a hearty laugh, to be sure, and then I asked 

 the attention of the gentlemen present. I said that "Jim, 

 who was disposed to laugh at my shooting, would bear 



