■ 



At Sao Paulo Institute 



Shipper! Sees 

 As Mann 



Variety pf Poisonous 



es Swaps H/lt 



Bearing gifts for South Ameri- » 

 can boos, Dr. William M. Mann, 

 director of the National Zoolog- 

 ical Park, is en route to points in 

 Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay 

 to collect birds, reptiles and ani- 

 mals. Among those accompany- 

 ing him is William H. Shippen, 

 jr., feature writer of The Star 

 Btajf, who here presents the 13th 

 of a series of articles abou 

 Mann's expedition. 



By W, H. SHIPPEN, Jr., 



Star Staff Correspondent. 



SANTOS, Brazil.— Cutting down 

 the death toll from snake and spider 

 bites has been developed into a fine 

 science in these parts. 



The barefoot native working in 

 some remote 



jungle no longer llii^^^^l*" 

 need curl up and 

 die when struck 

 by some snake 

 he never saw — 

 nor need poison- 

 ous and some- 

 times fatal in- 

 fections progress 

 after an encoun- 

 ter with a hairy 

 tarantula or a 

 wolf spider in 

 the bush. 



Curative ser- 

 ums have been 



developed and Dr. Calvente. 



widely distributed from the famous 

 "snake farm" — the Institute of Bu- 

 tantan, operated by the State of Sao 

 Paulo, on the outskirts of the city 

 of Sao Paulo, about 60 miles across 

 the coastal mountains from this 

 coffee port. 



Zoo Director William M. Mann 

 of Washington has given several 

 lectures on the work of the insti- 

 tute, but never had an opportunity 

 to see it until today, when he and 

 Mrs. Mann were guests of the di- 

 rector, Dr. James Calvente. Both 

 scientists are untiring collectors, 

 and soon were swapping snakes as 

 well as stories. 



Dr. Mann plans to present to the 

 Institute several Gila monsters, the 

 large, poisonous, orange-and-black 

 lizards native to the deserts of our 

 Southwest — part of a zoological col- 

 lection he is taking to Buenos Aires 

 as a gift to the Zoo there. In return, 

 Dr. Calvente probably will have 

 several bags of snakes waiting at 

 this port when Dr. Mann stops by 

 some six weeks hence. 



Arrange Future Swaps. 



Pew if any poisonous lizards live 

 in South America, and Dr. Calvente 

 considers the Gila monsters a valu- 

 able addition to his "farm." In ad- 

 dition, the two scientists arranged 

 for the exchange of snakes in the 

 future — swaps to enable both to 

 round out their collections. 



Even persons who are repelled by 

 the sight of a squirming serpent 

 would enjoy the architectural and 

 floral beauties of the "farm" — its 

 impressive buildings, collection of 

 palms and pines, formal gardens, 

 Vivid flowers. 



Less obtrusive are the little con- \ 

 Crete "pill boxes" scattered over 

 sunken grass plots inclosed by low 

 walls — the home of the snakes, one 

 inclosure for the cobra type, whose 

 bite attacks the nervous system; 

 another for vipers, poisoners of the 

 blood stream, and still another for 

 non-poisonous varieties — boas, etc. 

 In the latter inclosure are trees 

 whose branches, on sunny days, are 

 laden with huge snakes whose col- 

 oration blends them with the foliage. 

 The colored skins and patterns of 

 these climbers made them things of 

 beauty — to the naturalists, anyhow. 

 All in Knowing How. 



A bored attendant in a white coat 

 leaped into an inclosure with a stick 

 that had a metal crosspiece at the 

 bottom. He hooked a squirming 

 mass of rattlers from a pill box and 

 caught one by pinning it down with 

 the stick and grasping it just be- 

 hind the head with his right hand. 

 The huge, flailing body he tucked 

 under his left arm. (Incidentally, 

 he was smoking a cigarette.) 



The attendant ran nimbly" along 

 a wall and leaped into the midst of 

 some 20 spectators. Everybody (with 

 the possible exception of the ama- 

 teur photographers, who are afraid 

 of nothing — I've noticed — except a 

 poor exposure) drew back. An as- 

 sistant director produced a glass 

 dish. 



The attendant hooked the inch- 

 long, curving fangs of the rattler 

 over the edge of the dish and \ 

 squeezed the snake's head. 



A drop, two drops of clear fluid 1 

 came from the snake's poison 

 glands. 



"One drop," remarked the assist- 

 ant director, "would do for us all— 

 If properly distributed!" 



Thus is the poison obtained for 

 developing a serum from the blood 

 of infected animals. 



The institute handles some 60,000 

 snakes a year. They are sent in by 

 donors, and transported free from 

 distant parts of South America. 

 One phial of serum is given for each 

 fourth snake. The institute also 

 sends out educational literature. 



How Bites Appear. 



For instance, a poisonous snake i 

 Usually makes two clean punctures j 

 in the skin, while the non-poisonous ! 

 variety probably would inflict many 

 punctures, or scratches. A picture 

 ©f how the two bites appear on flesh 

 could save some persons from a 

 nervous breakdown, when all they 



had to fear was a local infection, 

 and others from disregarding the 

 widely spaced, clean punctures. 

 Often in densely vegetated areas a 

 victim never glimpses the snake 

 that bit him. 



In the instituted museum are 

 some 200 varieties of snakes pre- 

 served in alcohol, and an impressive 

 collection, living and dead, of taran- 

 -ttttes — or my gale, as they are called 

 here — and wolf spiders, of the fam- 

 ily lycosidae. The tarantulas often 

 are imported to the States in car- 

 goes of bananas. Some of these, 

 in natural position, are 6 inches 

 across, from leg tip to leg tip. They 

 are not as aggressive as the wolf 

 spider, however. 



Both are hunters which spring on 

 their victims. Their game includes 

 small birds. The bite of either may 

 cause a fatal infection. The insti- 

 j tute is developing a curative serum. 



In the States, it was said, a serum 

 for victims of the black widow spider 

 is being made from the pulp of the 

 spider's body. 



The institute also is experimenting 

 with preventative measures for yel- 



low fever and other tropical dis- 

 eases. 



One theory being investigated is 

 that monkeys carry yellow fever 

 germs. 



Tapir Has Many Friends. 



The pets at the institute include 

 a squealing little tapir. The stripes 

 on his coat run lengthwise, a mark- 

 ing which will disappear later. Just 

 now he has a fine time with the free 

 run of the institute's menagerie, 

 making a lot of friends and a gen- 

 eral nuisance of himself. His name 

 is something in Portuguese which I 

 won't attempt to translate. (It 

 sounds a bit profane.) 



The institute was founded some 

 40 years ago and its methods are 

 studied all over the world. It is cred- 

 ited with saving some 5,000 lives a 

 year from snake bite in Brazil alone. 



The British recently sent a group 

 to compare what is being done at 

 Sao Paulo with their own work to 

 save the natives of India from the 

 cobra. 



In Rio the other day Dr. Mann 

 visited the snake farm established 

 by Dr. Vital Brazil, founder of the 

 Institute of Butantan, and the dis- 

 coverer of snake serum, who re- 

 signed to pursife independent re- 

 searches. Dr. Brazil, among other 

 things, is interested in poisonous 

 toads found in many regions of 

 South America. 



One toad has poison glands in its 

 back. It cannot inject the poison 

 by biting, but can inflict awful pun- 

 ishment on anything which bites 



it. For example, a snake bites the 

 toad, and the membranes of its 

 mouth become so inflamed it dies 

 in convulsions in a few minutes. 

 This was demonstrated. 



There is one snake, however, 

 which is immune to toad poison. 

 Still another snake in this vicinity, 

 a relative of the rattler, poisons its 

 victims in two ways—through nerves 

 and blood stream. 



The institute, it would appear, has 

 accomplished much, but is not in- 

 clined at this time to rest upon its 

 laurels. 



The scientists were willing to ad- 

 mit they have a lot to learn! 



Tomorrow: Impressions of three 

 cities. 



