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Loading... The Snakebite Survivors' Club: Travels Among Serpents (1999)by Jeremy Seal
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |  Popular nineteenth-century cures for snakebite included gunpowder, which was heaped on the wound and then ignited. Bite victims were known to remove the bitten extremity with an axe or even a loaded gun. Leeches, on account of their sucking ability, were often applied to bites. On the principle that the application of a second poison would neutralize the first, strychnine, mercury, ammonia and ‘chlorine of gold’ all enjoyed spells of popularity. The juice of banana leaves had its supporters, as did the urine of toads or even immersion in cattle manure. And massive quantities of alcohol, even more than was generally downed as a daily salve against the brutish realities of nineteenth-century Australian life, were regarded as an excellent cure for snakebite. Saranac Black Forest Bavarian Ale Atlantic Coal Porter MusicalGlass | Jun 24, 2011 |  ) klarusu | Aug 1, 2008 |  ) dcoward | Oct 1, 2007 |  ) BeaverMeyer | Jul 29, 2007 | no reviews | add a review
Snakes are Jeremy Seal's fascination, and his greatest fear. In an attempt to overcome his phobia, he decides to journey into America, Australia, Africa and India in search of the most notorious and deadly snakes, and to meet the people who live among them. His travels take him to Kenya's snake man, whose entire life seems like a preparation for a bite from the terrible black mamba, and to witch doctors, who use snakes as instruments of vengeance. He recalls the stories of Australian convicts condemned to prison in the land of the world's deadliest snake, and the story of a Southern preacher who tries to murder his wife with his church's rattlesnakes. Mixed in with all these bizarre tales are fascinating scientific facts, snake lore and ancient legends. An erudite but highly entertaining travel narrative, The Snakebite Survivors' Club taps into our general fear of snakes to tell a funny and somewhat gruesome account of the world of snakes and the people they repel, mesmerize, and sometimes kill. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)597.96Natural sciences and mathematics Zoology Cold-blooded vertebrates, fishes Reptilia ; Reptiles SnakesLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.46)
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