VENOM AS MEDICINE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 250, 21 October 1937, Page 12

VENOM AS MEDICINE

STUDIED BY SCIENTISTS On the eve of his sixty-first birthday, Dr. Raymond L. Ditmars, curator of mammals and reptiles at the | Bronz Zoo, revealed that he is conducting experiments in co-operation with medical men to determine the value of snake poisons in treating epilepsy, hemophilia and malignant growths, reports the New York Tunes. In the treatment of epilepsy, declared Dr. Ditmars, who has held his present position for thirty-seven years, a serum developed from venom extracted from mocassin snakes has shown "beneficial results." In his researches Dr. Ditmars has been assisted by Dr. Charles R. Schroeder, chief 01 the Department of Research at the zoo. In addition Dr. Ditmars, who in the last twenty-nine years has written fourteen books on reptiles, has been engrossed in a study of the habits ot vampire bats to learn if the bats can be accustomed to a diet other than blood. As a result of experiments with three vampire bats at the reptile house in the zoo, he has learned that they can walk like quadrupeds, utilising their wings as legs. Also, he said, the bat, Desmodus rotundus, does not suck blood from victims, but laps it with its unusually large tongue. However, despite a variety of diets, he has been unable to find a substitute for blood as bat food. After repeated failures Dr. Ditmars managed to habituate the bats to light sufficient for photographic purposes. Cause Great Damage Dr. Ditmars is looking forward to his summer vacation, which he will spend in either Panama or the West Indies at tbe request of the British and American Governments, to continue his studies of vampire bats. In these countries, he said ,the creatures have caused extensive damage among horses and cattle. In his study in the reptile house the curator leaned back in his chair and chuckled as he recalled the early difficulties in the development of his de-

In his study in the reptile house the curator leaned back in his chair and chuckled as he recalled the early difficulties in the development of his department, which is now among the most popular at the zoo. A wiry, grey-haired man, he is still as enthusiastic about his snakes as on the day he founded the reptile division bydonating his collection. "When I first came here," he said, “we hadn’t a single building. The foundations had been laid for the bird house and the reptile house. Until they were completed, however, we housed our charges in two barn-like structures.

“We hardly dreamed that within the next four decades we would possess more than 500 mammals and as many snakes. There was always the problem of adjusting the temperatures for snakes. You see, they won’t eat if the temperature goes below 70 degrees."

He denied he had any favourites among the snakes in his care. However, he conceded a particular pride in the green mamba and the gaboon viper he received from Cameroon, Africa, recently.

He said he would celebrate his birthday by going to work at his usual time, 9 a.m. He said he might leave a little before 6 p.m., his usual quitting time, for his wife and two daughters probably would have some surprise waiting for him at their home in Scarsdale. Just to be sure that he is never idle, Dr. Ditmars has acquired two hobbies, mechanical electricity and photography. At his home he has a little workshop and another room clammed with the latest developments in photography.