Focusing primarily on American culture and history from the 1800s, this study draws on a wide range of sources - including newspaper archives, medical journals, and archives from the Smithsonian Institute - to examine the complex relationship between snakes and humans.

The literature on snakes is manifold but overwhelmingly centered on the natural sciences. Little has been published about them in the fields of popular culture or the history of medicine. Focusing primarily on American culture and history from the 1800s, this study draws on a wide range of sources--including newspaper archives, medical journals, and archives from the Smithsonian Institute--to examine the complex relationship between snakes and humans.