Published in The Waukegan Gazette on January 3, 1857.
    A man named Wirsen, a swede, who has recently been exhibiting a number of rattlesnakes in various parts of California, and who fancied he had acquired a power over them which would prevent them from biting him, was severely bitten by one of them upon the finger, at Sacramento. He immediately drank four bottles of brandy, and went to bed in a state of stupefeation. He is still in a critical condition, his whole arm being terribly inflamed. He thinks he will recover, and says he is satisfied the snakes did not intend to bite him, and if he does recover he shall continue his experiments and exhibitions. While confined to his bed he has a young rattlesnake with him all the time.
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