We then pried his mouth open, and kept it open with a small
stick. We took all this trouble for the purpose of preparing him to
assist in an experiment in which he and Mexican John were to be the
principal performers. Baker carefully cut out the poison-sacs, which are
situated just beneath the temporal muscle, back of the eye. It was
suggested that it would be better to remove the fangs, to avoid any
possibility of danger; but Baker objected, as he said removing the fangs
would give the whole thing away.

"He took the precaution, however, while the snake lay helpless with its
mouth open, to carefully wash the teeth, and then filled the small
openings near the end of the fangs with some dental cement which Baker
had in his outfit, which hardens in a few minutes. You see, the fangs
of a rattlesnake are like two hypodermic syringes. They are hollow
tubes, as it were, with an opening near the point,--a little narrow
slit, but one that is easily seen, if you look for it. Through this he
squirts the poison by the aid of the temporal muscle, which he contracts
as he strikes.

"As we had removed the poison-sacs and plugged up the fangs, this snake
was not in a very good condition to do any serious harm. He, however,
was fighting mad, and evidently did not enjoy the operation which he had
undergone. It did not seem to hurt him any, however, for he was as
lively as a kitten when we let him loose in the box, and was ready and
anxious to strike at anything.

"Towards evening Miguel came back to camp, and we had the snake all
ready for him. It was a much larger one than those which he had in his
box, and when we slipped it in among the others we could easily
recognize it from its size. The boys asked John to give an exhibition of
the curative powers of his snake cure, saying that they would like to
buy some more, but wished to see it tried before doing so.

"John was quite ready, and after opening a bottle of the antidote he
lifted the cover of his snake box, and reached in his hand to take one
of them out. As he did so, he was immediately struck good and hard by
our latest addition to the collection.

"My, how he carried on! He looked hastily into the box, and then at the
marks on his hand, where the fangs had cut in. He gave one screech,
grabbed a knife, cut the place wide open, and commenced to suck it
fiercely, at the same time praying and cursing almost in the same
breath.

"The boys begged him to apply his antidote, ask