Drummond, a prominent magistrate of Melbourne,
Australia,[8] met with untimely death under circumstances that
attracted no little attention. An itinerant vender of nostrums had on
exhibition a number of venomous reptiles, by which he caused himself
to be successively bitten, professing to secure immunity by reason of
a secret compound which he offered for sale at a round figure.
Convinced that the fellow was an imposter, and his wares valuable only
as a means of depleting the pockets of the credulous, Mr. Drummond
loudly asserted the inefficacy of the nostrum, as well as the
innocuousness of the reptiles, which he assumed to be either naturally
harmless, or rendered so by being deprived of their fangs; and in
proof thereof insisted upon being himself bitten. To this experiment
the charlatan was extremely averse, offering strenuous objections, and
finally conveyed a point blank refusal. But Mr. Drummond's demands
becoming more imperative, and observing that his hesitancy impressed
the audience as a tacit acknowledgment of the allegations, he finally
consented, and placed in the hands of the magistrate a tiger snake,
which he deemed least dangerous, and which instantly struck the
gentleman in the wrist. The usual symptoms of serpent poisoning
rapidly manifested themselves, followed by swelling and lividity of
the part, obstructed circulation and respiration, and coma; and in
spite of the use of the vaunted remedy and the attentions of
physicians the result was most fatal. The vender subsequently conceded
the worthless character of his nostrum, declaring that be enjoyed
exemption from the effects of of serpent poison by virtue of recovery
from a severe inoculation in early life; and he further added he knew
"some people who were born so," who put him "up to this dodge" as a
means of gaining a livelihood.

[Footnote 7: _Vide_ report to Prof. J. Henry Bennett.]

[Footnote 8: London _Times_.]

It is a general supposition that such immunity, when congenital, is
acquired _in utero_ by the inoculation of the parent, and Oliver
Wendell Holmes' fascinating tale of "Elsie Venner" embodies many
interesting features in this connection. Admitting such inoculation
may secure immunity, recent experiments in the action of this as well
as kindred poisons give no grounds for believing it at all universal
or even common, but as depending upon occult physiological or
accidental phenomena. For instance, the writer and his father are
e