* See the Apiarian's Guide, pp. 58, 59. As a fitting accompaniment of Payne's novel method of curing the sting of a Bee by the application of _heated iron, or of a live coal, for five minutes_, to the part stung, and as a _ne plus ultra_ remedy for the pain inflicted by a Bee's sting, though that pain, Mr. Cotton would persuade us, if we did not know better, "only lasts two minutes," may, " goes off in a moment," the following specific, given by the aforesaid Cotton from Sydserff, must not be omitted."" Many have asked my (Sydserff's) advice when stung, and I have always recommended--"THAT ANOTHER STING THEM NEAR THE SAME PLACE, AND ALL WILL BE WELL." (Cotton, page 190.) This is _admirable!_-aye--_capital_, for it is so printed in Cotton's " elegant volume," and that makes it _CAPITAL!_ The following passage from the same authority will serve to explain what Dr. Bevan would perhaps term the _rationale_ of Sydserff's treatment. "_If," says he, in page 187, 188, of Cotton, "_I amstung by a Bee in the face, I generally swell almost blind;_ if on the back part of the hand, the swelling ascends to the tops of my fingers; but if I am stung by two Bees near the same place, the swelling is not so much; _and if I am stung by ten or more Bees, the swelling is very little, or none at all. 1 would not of choice be stung by them, if it can be avoided, but after I have been stung once, I have no objection against being stung
Pressure with the hollow end of a'small key, or with a pencil case, is practised by _twice, and after I have been stung twice or three times, I do not mind if I am stung fifty or a hundred times."_ The first sting then, it should seem, is the only one that gives pain ; the second must be pleasant, the third gratifying, the fourth exquisite, &c. ad infinitum ; ergo, stinging indefinitely repeated must constitute the long sought summum bonum, because THE STING OF ONE BEE SERVES TO MOLLIFY, PREVENTS THE SWELLING, AND IN EFFECT CURES THE STING OF ANOTHER.* But supposing a person to have the _satisfaction_ of being stung " fifty or a hundred times," and supposing Sydserff's _stinging remedy_ to be had recourse to, and to be efficacious, would not the last sting remain uncured, and occasion as much pain as the first would have occasioned had no second, &c. followed?--And how happens it that not only men, but horses, cows, &c. are frequently stung to death. The sting of a Bee is doubtless a formidable little weapon, with which great pain is inflicted upon almost every person who happens to be so unfortunate as to experience it ; and in spite of all the remedies herein prescribed, Payne's and Sydserff's included, that pain is not easily cured, unless it be cured _instanter_, which it very seldom can be, and very often cannot be. Lightly as Mr. Cotton treats this matter, he admits that " there are some people who if they get a sting in their finger straightway swell up to the shoulder, or even further : this is certainly not pleasant, though I do not believe any great harm comes of it :" perhaps not; but still _it is not pleasant._ He then tells us that " the worst place in which a person can be stung is the inside of the throat,"--and goes on to say that " he has heard of a man dying of swallowing a some unfortunates, and is said to check the circulation of the poison.