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CHAPTER XIII
SNAKES IN RELATION TO MAN
Under this head, the question of poisonous snakes naturally occupies the
first place. In addition to what has been said above in Chapter VI.,
dealing with the anatomical and physiological aspects of the subject, we
have to allude to the accidents caused by these dangerous reptiles, and
the measures taken to combat them.
The enormous mortality for which snake-bite is responsible in India is
well known. Statistics establish the fact that an average of 20,000
human lives are thus lost annually: 24,264 is the official return for
1911. In Australia, where highly poisonous snakes of various genera and
species abound, the fatal cases are likewise very numerous, though less
in proportion than in South America, and no doubt also in Africa. In the
small island of Martinique, the Fer-de-Lance, _Lachesis lanceolatus_,
causes every year the death of about 100 human creatures. Though
numerous in species, the poisonous snakes of Ceylon cause a
comparatively small mortality--200 per annum.
Modern research has resulted in the discovery of the only effective
antidote for snake-venom intoxication: the serotherapic treatment. An
animal that has been treated over a length of time with the venom of a
poisonous snake, such as a Cobra, yields a serum which is antitoxic
towards that venom; but the great difficulty resides in the specificity
of the different poisons, which often renders the use of the serum
ineffective in countries like India and Australia, where several kinds
of poisonous snakes occur in the same district (see above, p. 67). In
India, where a special laboratory has been established for the supply of
antivenine, at the Central Institute of Kasauli, it has been found
impossible to obtain any venoms but those of the Cobra and Russell's
Viper in sufficient quantity to immunize animals, and thus produce the
serum necessary for dealing with the bite of the King Cobra, the Krait,
and the Echis Viper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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