| Show poisoned by a shahe in alcohol A surprising experiment demonstrating the lasting qualities of snake poison was recently made by professor maison neave which showed that a dead snake is almost as dangerous as a live one the professor took an unusually large specimen of the common viper of southern france which for more than 20 years had been exhibited in the zoological museum at angers prance preserved in alcohol the first experiment with one of tho poisonous fangs of this snake seemed to show that the 20 years contact with the alcohol had robbed the poison of its virulence for a sparrow wounded with one of its teeth did not develop any symptoms of being poisoned the cause of the of the poison at first was speedily found however in the thickening of the poison at the entrance of the canal into the tooth which prevented the poison from flowing when professor maisonneuve extracted some of the poisonous substance with a fine needle and injected a minimal por tion of into the sparrow the latter showed all the symptoms of poisoning inside of half an hou which gradually increased until it died in convulsions in aj hours after the injection of tha poi eon As it was heretofore believed that snake poison loses its dangerous and virulent qualities with the death of the reptile great care in handling dead snakes will be a matter of common sense precaution |
