This dramatic clip provides a warning to the audience by creating a sense of danger about Australia’s venomous snakes. The presence of a snake handler deftly picking up and handling dozens of writhing brown and tiger snakes, and gracefully dodging their attacks, adds a layer of spectacle to the newsreel.

The snake handler, George Cann, demonstrates the method used to treat a snake bite – using a razor to ‘scarify’ the wound, cutting off circulation to stop the venom spreading, and then pouring on the antidote of antivenin. Today, improved methods of treatment, and the increased availability and effectiveness of antivenin, have reduced the number of fatalities, which are mostly from brown snakes.