122 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
ANTI-VENOMOUS SERUMS 
Anti-lachcsis and anti-erota!us serums of Dr. Brazil, and Dr. Calmette’s serum for treatment of bites of cobras 
and vipers. The glass tube and container on the extreme right is Calmette. 
Photograph by El win R. Sanborn. 
mediately behind the head. -Of course, this treat¬ 
ment demands great care on the part of the 
operator. The reptile’s jaws are applied to 
a glass covered with parchment, and when it 
savagely bites through the fangs discharge a 
jet of poison. As many as a hundred snakes 
have been handled during a single afternoon. 
W e have recently extracted and kept separate 
the venoms of the southern moccasin and the 
copperhead snake with the hope that the 
Brazilian laboratory could find time to produce 
separate anti-venomous serums for those species. 
Sucb special products would, of course, result 
in more efficacious antidotes than the rattle¬ 
snake antitoxin we are now using for all ven¬ 
omous bites. But there is yet much local work 
to be done in Brazil, and opportunity has 
not been found to prepare these specific grades. 
This work, however, should be done in the 
United States without imposing upon the time 
of our distant colleagues. 
Our first contact with the Institue of Serum 
Therapy was through Dr. Vital Brazil, then 
in charge of serum production. Dr. Brazil 
very opportunely arrived in New York for a 
visit on the day that our Headkeeper Toomey 
was bitten by a large rattlesnake. When Mr. 
Toomey had reached a very critical condition 
we heard of Dr. Brazil’s arrival. Fortunately 
he had brought with him some tubes of his 
rattlesnake serum. A limited injection of his 
product produced astonishing results. A de¬ 
crease of the great swelling, fever, discolor¬ 
ation and partial collapse, and Mr. Toomey’s 
life was saved. 
Dr. Brazil has since retired from the Sao 
Paulo institution. 
For all recent courtesies from the South 
American institution we are indebted to Dr. 
Afranio Amaral, who has visited us, conferred 
upon many important details, presented us 
with numerous tubes of serum, and explained 
the results of his treatment of snake-bites. 
The poisonous serpents at Butantan, con¬ 
sisting of bushmasters, lance-heads, palm 
vipers and rattlesnakes, are cared for in a very 
interesting way. The institution maintains a 
“snake park” of novel layout, of dome-like 
design, like outdoor ovens. The reptiles prowl 
over lawns of well-kept grass and radiating 
paths. The snake park is surrounded by a moat 
filled with water, and a cement wall prevents 
