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THE “GILA MONSTHE

BY S. GARMAN.
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[From the BULLETIN OF THE ESSEX INSTITUTE, Vol. XXII, Nos. 4, 5 and 6, 1890,]
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ON THE “GILA MONSTER” ( Heloderma suspectun).

BY S. GARMAN.

Lare in May, 1889, through the kindness of Miss Mary
Woodman, the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cam-
bridge, Mass., came into possession of an unusually hand-
some specimen of the “Gila monster,” one of the largest
of the lizards and the only one reputed venomous. He
had been secured at Casa Grande, Arizona, by Mr. Dan-
iel H. Bacon and forwarded in such a manner as to reach
us little the worse for the handling and the change of cli-
mate. His arrival in good health and in the warm season
gave opportunity for taking a number of notes that may
add something to what is already known concerning the
species. For more than a year he was kept alive and un-
der observation. Animals that have been brought any
distance usually arrive very thirsty, and the first move
toward domesticating them is made in giving them water.
Heloderma was no exception. In an arid dwelling place
such as his, four or five days, the length of the journey,
would not be expected to prove a very long time between
drinks, but he drank as if nearly famished. A stupid and
impassive appearance did not prevent such manifestation
of intense enjoyment as made it a pleasure to watch the
slow process of satisfying what, for the time, was the
greatest desire of the creature’s existence. More than
half an hour elapsed from the time the snout was brought
down to the liquid and the tongue thrust into it until the

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2 ON THE “ GILA MONSTER.”

head was raised and, licking the lips and yawning to dis-
close the inky blackness inside the mouth, preparations
were begun ona sleeping place. Shortly afterward an ege
was broken into a dish and placed within reach; it was
taken with evident relish, in the same manner as the wa-
ter ; the chin was dipped into it and the tongue thrust out,
bent downward and drawn back again. The tongue is
thick and riband-shaped, 7. e., long, narrow and somewhat
depressed. In protrusion it first makes its appearance as
a single sharp point; as it comes farther out the tip sepa-
rates into two points, and the organ is seen to be forked
for a short distance. When fully protruded, the aspect
is changed and the outline of the extremity, as seen from
above, resembles that of the tail of ashad. As the tongue
is drawn in, the tips approach each other till once more
closely applied. Thus, the forked portion moves sidewise
like the blades of a pair of scissors as the tongue goes out
and back. Any of the fluid that adhered was carried into
the mouth by the retraction, and no doubt the tongue was
followed by a slight current induced by suction that took
in a little more ; the amount of suction, however, must have
been very slight, judging from the time occupied in eat-
ing a single egg. On each of four days one egg was con-
sumed ; then followed a week of fasting, the most of which
was cloudy weather. Readiness to feed depended greatly
on the temperature and brightness of the day; in conse-
quence the meals were quite irregular.

On the bottom of the box there were some inches of
sand with several rocks ; under the side of one of the lat-
ter the burrow was made. The digging was all done with
the hands; beginning with the left the sand was thrown
back with some force in slow strokes, about thirty to the
minute, then the right was used in the same way. The
motions were outward or lateral, not vertical like those of

ON THE “GILA MONSTER.” 3

a dog. Fora while the sand was dug out directly, until
it began to pour back; then a position was taken up on
the top of the heap that had been made, and it was thrown
still farther back ; gradually working forward, conditions
were soon made favorable for continuance of excavation
at the bottom of the burrow. At the depth of about a
foot the body was hidden and only the tail exposed. This
depth appeared to be satisfactory for a time, and the dwell-
ing was occupied as if complete.

The tail is club-shaped, near six inches in length by one
and a half in diameter, and retains its thickness back tow-
ard the end where it rather abruptly tapers to become more
slender and pointed. When the tail was sticking out of the
excavation, as in digging, the slender extremity moved
from side to side, back and forth and around, with more
flexibility than was to be expected from its size, as if con-
stantly on the alert for unseen danger. The organ is very
sensitive. While asleep the tail was stowed as if to in-
sure its safety; it was either extended directly back into
the burrow, half of the body remaining outside, or, when
the animal was wholly under cover, it was bent forward
along the side. In sleep, the body lies flat on the sand
and the arms were usually stretched back, palms upward.
After a few weeks, less care was taken in regard to enter-
ing the burrow during the day, and the naps were taken
anywhere in the box.

The box was not well placed for the sunshine; it was
covered with a strong netting. Some attempts to get
through the net one morning caused the occupant to be
taken by the shoulders and lifted over into another cage
where he might get the full benefit of the sun. This was
quietly enjoyed until the sun had_ passed, then there
was another attempt on the cover, followed by return to
the first box and retreat into the hole. This came to be the

4 ON THE “GILA MONSTER.”

regular proceeding : every morning about nine o’clock the
fellow climbed up in the corner of his box whence he was
lifted over into the sunshine to take a nap until the shad-
ows came upon him, then he would climb in the corner
again till returned to the larger box to take his favorite
position in his den for a while. To forget or neglect him
was out of the question ; his scratching would not permit it.

The number of eggs charged to him does not average
more than one per week ; the other food given him amount-
ed to very little.

In the latter part of July he began to slough. The ep-
iderm came off in a very ragged way, in shreds and
patches. There seemed to be no effort to hasten the proc-
ess and a month later it was not entirely finished. Think-
ing to hurry the matter, in case all had not gone along
in the normal way, a bath tub was furnished with water
sufficient to completely cover him. At once he showed a
fondness for lymg in the water with his snout sticking out ;
this was varied by lying on the bank with his tail sticking
in, & position which he apparently found to be very de-
lightful.

Heloderma was really good-natured. To be sure he
was easily worried into self-defence, but there was nothing
vicious in his disposition. To scratch him on the sides,
or rub the knobbed scales of his back, or, more readily
than either, to blow in his face would make him open his
mouth, for which he was not much to be blamed, but even
then something had to be put between his teeth to get him
to bite, he had so little desire to take hold of his tor-
mentor.

His thirst required more attention than his hunger; he
drank frequently and always with great deliberation. To
tempt his appetite various things, such as insects, worms,
young birds, mice, meats and cooked foods were put be-

ON THE “GILA MONSTER.” 5

fore him. He took none of them voluntarily, but would
swallow occasional offerings if they were put into his
mouth. Some things he would not accept on any terms,
they were put out of the mouth as fast as put in; others
that he might be induced to swallow were held in his jaws
fora long time. At the end of a year the only evidence
of loss of flesh was to be noticed near the end of the tail,
where it had grown a little more thin and pointed. The
body had retained its plumpness, being rather more than
three and a half inches wide to twelve inches long, without
the tail. [

His only sound was a long-drawn aspirate hah, like a
sigh, produced by expelling the breath from the lungs.
If teased till out of patience, this was given out with the
mouth partly open, when it had all the force of a warn-
ing; whether it was intended for that purpose or was
merely preparation for a struggle, by lessening the bulk,
are still to be considered. It really answered both pur-
poses.

In regard to the nature of the venom and fatality of the
bite there is little to offer that is new. The results of the
experiments suggest danger for small animals but little or
none for larger ones. Juarge angle worms and insects
seemed to die much more quickly when bitten than when
cut to pieces with the scissors.

Acquaintance with this specimen has satisfied me, how-
ever, that the reports of the deadly nature of the species
are mainly exaggerations, with little if any foundation in
fact. Popular opinion and for that matter its manner of
origin are illustrated by the following, credited to Col. A.
G. Tassin, U. S. Army, in the Overland Monthly: “The
“Gila monster is an ugly reptile peculiar to Arizona, and
“as its name implies, most common along the Gila river.
“It is asort of a cross between a lizard and an alligator,

6 ON THE “GILA MONSTER.”

“roughly striped black and white on a yellowish back-
“oround. Its length varies from ten to thirty inches, and a
“large-sized fellow is as thick as a strong man’s arm.
“When prodded with a stick it hisses and thrusts out its
“heavy forked tongue, raising its head menacingly, but
“scarcely moving otherwise. Its bite is often fatal, the
“effect depending more or less upon the state of the sau-
“yian’s temper and the depth of the wound. Its breath in
“hissing is offensive, and issues from a wide-open mouth
“in puffs of black vapor or smoke. The Mexicans I have
“ questioned all told me that it was exceedingly poisonous,
“as much so as the bite, if not more, while many of the
“Americans thought it harmless. Having myself seen a
“chicken and a small puppy killed by the hissing of one
“in their faces, I am inclined to think that it is best to
“keep from coming in contact with it.” Comment on this
is unnecessary. Still more conclusive in its way is the fol-
lowing, originally from the Cochise Record, reprinted
without comment in the Proceedings of the Zoological So-
ciety of London, 1888: “Sunday evening Dr. Mathews
“was summoned, by telegram, to Fairbanks (a railway-
“station near Tombstone, Arizona Territory, U. S. A.),
“to attend Colonel Yearger, who was reported seriously ill.
“ Owing to delay inthe telegram, the doctor did not reach
“the patient until several hours after his death, which had
“been very sudden.”

“Tt appears that Yearger had been fooling with a Gila
“mouster and in attempting to open the creature’s mouth,
“was bitten on the right thumb. Instantly the poison took
“effect, and although every convenient remedy was ap-
“plied, he lived but a few hours. An inquest was subse-
“quently held, and a verdict returned in accordance with
“ the above facts.”

“As this is the third or fourth death which has occurred

ON THE “GILA MONSTER.” 7

“in the Territory from bites of this reptile, it should set
“at rest, at once and forever, the theory so prevalent that
“ their bite is not poisonous.”

For comparison with the foregoing we may bring for-
ward the evidence of a couple of witnesses of scientific
reputation. They have no interest in destroying the char-
acter of the accused and may be expected to give testimony
without prejudice. If they are less positive in their as-
sertions than the preceding, it is possibly due to their act-
ual acquaintance with the creature.

Dr. F. Sumichrast under date of 1880, in the Bulletin
de la Société Zoologique de France, page 178, remarks
concerning Heloderma horridum: “J’ai peu de chose 4
“ajouter aux observations de moeurs que j'ai publiées sur
“cette espéce, il y a quelques années, si ce n’est, qu’apreés
“de nouvelles expériences sur sa morsure, je suis arrivé a
“la conviction qu’elle occasionne rarement la mort chez les
“animaux d’une certaine taille et que, la plupart du temps,
“elle n’est suivie que dune enflure de la partie mordue qui
“disparait au bout de vingt-quatre heures au plus; c’est au
“moins le seul effet qu’elle ait produit sur plusieurs jeunes
“chiens que j’al fait mordre dernierement.”

Dr. R. W. Shufeldtis one who, from having been incau-
tious enough to get bitten, is entitled to speak with some
degree of assurance. His statement is found in the Amer-
ican Naturalist for 1882, page 908. He was bitten on the
right thumb, the teeth going to the bone, by a specimen
at the Smithsonian Institution. The lacerated wound was
in a few moments the starting point of severe shooting
pains that passed up the arm and down the corresponding
side. A profuse perspiration was induced. The pain
made him so faint as to fall. The hand swelled rapidly,
but the swelling went no farther than the wrist. The
treatment included suction which drew not a little blood

8 ON THE “ GILA MONSTER.”

from the wound, a small quantity of whiskey, external ap-
plication of ice and laudanum and a lead-water wash af-
terward to reduce the swelling. He passed a sleepless
night. By the next day the swelling was considerably re-
duced and thereafter disappeared gradually. The follow-
ing is the conclusion of the doctor’s statement: “Taking
“everything into consideration, we must believe the bite
“of Heloderma suspectum to be a harmless one beyond the
“ordinary symptoms that usually follow the bite of any ir-
“vitated animal. I have seen, as perhaps all surgeons
“have, the most serious consequences follow the bite in-
* flicted by an angry man, and several years ago the writer
‘had his hand confined in a sling for many weeks from
“such a wound administered by the teeth of a common
“eat, the even tenor of whose life had been suddenly in-
* terrupted.”

The most conclusive of my own experiments on the sub-
ject of this notice, H. suspectum, eighteen inches in length,
was made with a young cat less than one-third grown.
The cat was bitten on the right hand and wrist, the lizard
holding fast like a bull dog, and blood was seen to flow
when they were released. That there might be no doubt
of the effectiveness of the bite, in two minutes the teeth
were inserted a second time, the saurian retaining his hold
and sinking his teeth deeper as the cat struggled to get
free. For half an hour or more the woiand occasioned
some distress and was licked and dressed by the kitten,
which then went to sleep for about an hour and ahalf. In
expectation of its death it was left undisturbed. To my
surprise it awoke as lively as if nothing had happened.
Though the hand was somewhat swollen, it was but slight-
ly lame. Twenty-four hours afterward when it was as
bright as ever and apparently without ill effects from its
mishap, the same cat was again bitten twice on the fore-

ON THE “ GILA MONSTER.” 9

arm, a little higher than before. As in the first experi-
ment there was no room to doubt the penetration of the
teeth. The cat again licked the wounds and for a consid-
erable time was occupied in dressing them. There was no
disposition to go to sleep as on the day before. In two
hours, as soonas the cat was inclined to pay no farther
attention to its wounds, it was killed and the skin removed
the better to note the effects of the bites. The fore-arm
and hand were found to be swollen to twice the size of the
opposite hand and arm. ‘The track of each tooth was
marked by the blood in and close around it, and the num-
ber and depth left no doubt of the conclusiveness of the
experiment ; the teeth had gone to the bones and between
them. I saw nothing by which to distinguish the cuts from
those made by a needle. ‘There were no signs of disor-
ganization in either the first or the second bites. Nothing
could be seen in the way of discoloration or otherwise to
give reason for any other conclusion than that the kitten
- would have entirely recovered in a few hours, by the time
the swelling had gone down, if it had been allowed to live.

The outcome of such observations as have been made
on this specimen has been confirmation of the opinion that
the species is venomous to a certain degree, to an extent
that, while it may most often prove fatal to very small an-
imals, is only in exceptional instances deadly or perhaps
even dangerous to larger ones. The effect on the kitten
was identical with that on the puppies in Sumichrast’s ex-
periments. That poison was introduced by the bite was
evident from the distress and swelling occasioned.

Dr. Fischer has described and figured secretory apparatus
on the lower jaws ; no glands have been found onthe upper.
There is an important question to be solved in connection
with this apparent lack of venom-secreting organs on one
of the jaws, which is quite as well prepared for its use as

10 ON THE “GILA MONSTER.”

the other on which the glands are so well developed. On
both upper and lower jaws each tooth has a lateral groove
on each side ; these furrows are supposed to be for the pur-
pose of inserting the venom in the wounds made by the
teeth. Unless there are, not yet discovered, means of sup-
plying venom to the upper teeth, it is difficult to see how
their furrows are made available, if not by means of a
quantity set free in the mouth, from the lower jaws, be-
fore the attempt to bite, a process of such uncertain effi-
cacy as hardly to be considered probable.

Averse to torturing the creature, no attempt was made
to verify the statement made by Sumichrast concerning
the habit of turning on the back to defend itself when
struck or beaten with a club. However, it might be ex-
pected to do just what is asserted of it under such cireum-
stances, for the position would be that which would enable
it most effectively to use feet and claws in aid of the teeth
in self-defence.

The breath is no more colored than that of human be-
ings ; neither is it nor could it be any more offensive in its
odor than the incense wafted from the lips of multitudes
of the representatives of proud humanity. In regard to
the breath being venom-laden, that of the specimen be-
fore us certainly was not so; here again it would be no
very difficult undertaking to select an army of men with
whom a comparison in this respect would’ undoubtedly
prove complimentary to the “ monster.”

And, finally, it may be said that unprejudiced consider-
ation of the matter as it stands between the reptile and hig
detractors will not fail to convince any one that a great
deal of the disrepute with which so much of the testimony
is weighted should not by any means be attached to the
lizard.

patel