The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1885-05-23
Our Oliu.
The Plaques of Mexico.
nv B. Yards Merico Letter.

Fanny B. Yards Nerico Letter.
During most of the year the terra cali
ente would be charming were it not for the
drawbacks of fever and venomous creatures.
Perhaps the most common plague is the
alcaran, or scorpion. They are inconceiv-
ably numerous at certain seasons, dartlng
about walls and floors with lightning ra-
pidity, dropping down upon you from the
roof, lurking under rugs and tablespreads,
their tails (Which hold the dreaded sting)
ready to fly up on the instant. 1t is said
that their bite is most to be apprehended
at midday, but every article you put on in
the morning must be treated like dose of
medicine TO be well shaken before taken."
They are generally from two to four inches
long, and the small, yellowish- brown variety
are most dangerous. In Durango they are
black, and SO alarmingly numerous that the
government has offered rewards-so much
per tail-to whoever will kill them. Their
sting is always fatal to child, and more
or less severe TO adults, according to the
constitution and state of the system. Some
have been known to recover after remain
ing eight days in convulsions, foaming at
the mouth and with stomach swollen as in
dropsy. Others, by prompt and energetic
treatment, do not suffer much.
The favorite remedies are brand y-taken
in sufficient quantity to stupefy the pa
tient-guaiacum, ammonia, and boiled silk.
1t is said that scorpions have the poor taste
to prefer dark people to fair ones-a state
ment which we devoutly desire to believe.
My irrepressible Betsy has become an ex
pert in catching them with lassos of thread,
after which we suspend them, head down.
ward, in bottles of alcohol, for the benefit
of microscopically y-inclined friends at the
North The Indians eat them, after pull
ing out the string, and doubtless they are
as delightful morceau as snails, crabs,
frogs and similar American delicacies, al
though your scribe begs to be excused
from rendering other than "hearsay" testi-
mony on the subject.
The tarantula-a shockingly soft, fat
creature, covered with long black hair
grows to enormous size in the south of
Mexico. The desert sands are full of them
and their curious box-like houses 1t is
said that the horse which treads upon one
will instantly lose its hoof-another state
ment which must be taken with some grains
of allowance, as, if literally true, half the
beasts in Mexico would be hoohess. Casa
mapulga spiders are very similar to taran
tulas, often larger than the palm of your
hand, their broad, hairy backs shading
from bronze to yellow. As for centipedes,
[ have seen many which were more than a
quarter of a yard in length, wandering
about my room, or dragging their disgust
ing joints over the plaza bench on which |
CHANGED to be seated. Some are nearly
black, but the most poisonous are the
greenish ones, whose hundred legs are pale
yellow. They neither bite nor sting, but
when they have crawled over any portion
of your anatomy, every spot touched by
one of their feet will slough off to the very
bone, and death is imminent from blood
poisoning.
There are other interesting creatures,
for whose venom no remedy is known
There is the chicaclina, striped viper,
with colors like Roman ribbon; the cora
lilo, ID viper of coral hue, with coral-black
| ueduj duu IuG NlldSIlilOj ou duALhoA Inv !"
huge beetle, whom you may discover by
the strong odor of vinegar which he emits
He is an orange color, and gently taps up
on the person he walks over, without CIV
ing any pain, but leaving behind long
train of deadly poison. How often has my
frequent partner" Betsy, awakened me in
the wee sma' hours, declaring she smelled
vinegar all about u.s. and such is the
power of Imagination that soon both of us
could have sworn to it, though no vina-
grillo was to be found.
Then there is the salamanquera, shaped
like lizard, whose bite is death; the esla-
boncillo, of similar shape, which throws
himself upon you, and if prevented from
biting is said to die of rage. There is also
a spider like an exaggerated glowworm,
who carries his lantern upon his back; and
another of beautiful black and red, called
the chinclaquito, whose sting sends racking
pains through all your bones, and the only
cure is to shut yourself up several days in
a close room thick with smoke. There are
gorgeous lizards dressed in scarlet, brown
spiders sporting polka-dots of crimson and
gold milk-white vipers, and 100 other va
rieties whose names | do not know. For
tunately, most of them give warning of
their presence, either by the odor they ex-
hale or the light they emit, or, like the
rattlesnake, by sounding warning note,