
JULY 13, 1907.] 

ANIMALS HARD TO POISON. 
Porson is surely one of the most weird of 
nature’s bizarre contrivances. A tiny speck of 
an innocent looking white powder on the tip of 
the tongue means instant death if that powder 
happens to be the deadly drug aconitine. A 
moment’s whiff of unseen vapor, and if that 
vapor rises from pure prussic acid all human aid 
is too late. The strangest fact about that curi- 
ous group of bodies called poisons is that some- 
times they are not poisons. Of course, every 
one knows that when kept under control by the 
skillful hands of the physician, poisons are most 
valuable medicines. But few persons are aware 
of the still more curious fact that poisons, when 
taken by certain animals even in large quantities, 
are quite harmless. 
Yet, strange as it may seem, this is perfectly 
true. Take, for instance, the hedgehog. This 
bristly little animal is absolutely poison proof. 
It can eat without discomfort as much opium as 
a hardened Chinese can smoke in a fortnight, 
and can wash a meal down with as much prussic 
acid as would kill a regiment of soldiers. 
It is capable of swallowing arsenic with just 
as much relish as it eats cockroaches. It is quite 
immune to the venom of the snake, though the 
prickly hedgehog has little need to fear the ap- 
proach of such reptiles. It has even been stated 
that it can swallow corrosive sublimate, and yet 
this is a virulent poison, which human beings 
must handle with caution, for even a solution 
of it externally applied has been known to cause 
death. 
Cyanide of potassium is another deadly sub- 
stance of which the hedgehog need have no fear, 
and yet the merest trace of the poison is sufficient 
to cause a full grown man to foam at the mouth 
and lose the power of his limbs. Truly the 
hedgehog is a strange freak, and yet not so in- 
explicable as the poisons by which he refuses to 
be poisoned. 
Man is said to resemble the monkey in more 
ways than one, but whatever characteristics they 
may have in common, the ape differs from the 
human being in this respect—he can take with 
impunity as much &trychnine as would kill two 
men instantly. The monkey, curiously enough, 
shares the immunity to strychnine poisoning with 
invertebrate animals. 
Another phenomenon is the rat. The number 
of rat poisons sold by druggists is legion, but 
there is one poison which never enters into their 
composition, namely, digitalin, the active prin- 
ciple of the fox glove. One-half grain of this 
poisonous principle suffices to kill a man within 
three-quarters of an hour, but the rat absolutely 
refuses to let it kill him. 
When it is discovered that a human being has 
swallowed oxalic acid ,the first thing the doctor 
does is to give his unfortunate patient a good 
dose of chalk, technically known as calcium car- 
bonate. Strange to relate, chickens are not poi- 
soned by oxalic acid, for the simple reason that 
their intestines contain the antidote in the form 
of quantities of calcium, which combine with the 
poison and render it. quite harmless. It is in- 
teresting, however, to mention that if oxalic acid 
is injected into the blood of a fowl it would be 
poisoned; it is only when given by the mouth 
that the acid comes in contact with the antidote. 
However, as chickens are not provided with 
hypodermic syringes they are not likely to run 
any danger. 
If China were inhabited by pigeons instead of 
by people who speak English, a costly war arid 
no end of controversy might have been avoided, 
for pigeons are not demoralized by opium. You 
cannot put a pigeon to sleep with the “drowsy 
giant,” simply because thére is something in the | 
bird’s interior which. resists the narcotic influence 
of the morphine to which opium owes its activity. 
There is little to connect the Russian peasant 
with a goat—unless it is the beard—yet, never- 
theless, they have one trait in common; neither 
is harmed by hemlock. It was the juice of the 
hemlock, so we have been told until we are tired 
of hearing it, that killed Socrates. Ever since 
then it has been on the poison list as far as 
civilized beings are concerned, but, all the same, 
roots of hemlock are eaten as food by the Rus- 
sian peasants—and by goats. 

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FORE LAND SCREAM. 75 



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The Championship of the United States 
PROFESSIONAL AGAINST PROFESSIONAL 
THE BEST PITTED AGAINST THE BEST 
All contestants standing at the long range of 18 yards. This great,race for 
the Championship of the 4 Bucs States, held at Chicago during thes week of June 
16, 1907, was won by W. Crosby, shooting the PARKER GUN, with a score 
of 192 out of 200 targets fort at, 96 per cent. 
THE PARKER GUN 
The next highest score, 190 out of 200 targets shot at—go5 per cent.—in this 
Same great Championship event, was made “by Fred Gilbert, also using the 
PARKER GUN. = 
This greatest contest of professionals shows positively the pattern and center 
of the gun. The PARKER GUN shoots where you look. ‘The proof is evident. 
Surely the OLD RELIABLE, when put to a severe test, proves what we have 
always claimed—that the PARKER GUN outshoots them all. 
Send for Catalogue. 
» Meriden, C P 
PARKER BROTHERS, ¥%.31 hogy Size, Meriden, Conn 
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Dead Shot 
AEE eeprcia 



For Shot Guns 
Mrs. Ad. Topperwein, shooting Dead Shot Smokeless 
Powder, at Sulphur, I. T., May 2d, 1907, made the 
World’s Record for a lady in an open tournament, break- 
ing 245 out of 250, and making a continuous run of 113 
straight. Dead Shot is the best powder on earth and 
ITS STABILITY IS GUARANTEED 
Literature as to loads, &c., sent on request 
American Pow dex Oyhils 
Established 1835 
CHICAGO BOSTON ST. LOVIS 

