Sometimes, fascinating research hides behind eyes-crossingly boring paper titles. Other times, well, that's not the case … as blogger Emily Anthes found, when she stumbled across an article in the journal Anaesthesia and Intensive Care titled, straightforwardly, "Joseph Clover and the cobra: a tale of snake envenomation and attempted resuscitation with bellows in London, 1852."
If that's not enough to get your attention, try the abstract:
The Industrial Revolution saw the creation of many new jobs, but probably none more curious than that of zookeeper. The London Zoological Gardens, established for members in 1828, was opened to the general public in 1847. In 1852 the "Head Keeper in the Serpent Room," Edward Horatio Girling, spent a night farewelling a friend departing for Australia. He arrived at work in an inebriated state and was bitten on the face by a cobra that he was handling in a less than sensible manner…
Be entertained and learn a very valuable lesson about snake handling at Anthes' Wonderland blog.
Image: Some rights reserved by Enygmatic-Halycon
