The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-06-13
VOLUME XVI.

ne IS a ,pedipalpous. Anybody would
DC pedIipalpous who would take hold
Oh one OF them, il he could help it. But
nobody ever does. We hear Of snake.
cnarlners, and lion-tamers, and tamens
o. wliu beasts in general; but did any
oouy ever hear of man foolng unnec.
essarliy with scorpions A falt-erown
scorpion is from two 10 two -and-a-half
lhches long, and his color is a sort of
ashy gray. He has eight legs.
upon all OF which minute hairs
grow, and his tail is much longer
man mere IS any necessity for, consid-
.oring the SIZE Of his body. The tail IA.
I'D iact, only a Continuation Of his BODY,
ana nave included that in measuring
ms length It Is at the end of his tai
that ne carries his venomous sting. and
wnen ne curls up his body into a semi
circle, and brings that lively end of his
.aii 70 Dear upon an enemy, the enemy
can not drop him too soon. His body is
no where as thick as a lead-pencil, but
at the head it branches out into claws,
or horns, or additional legs, whichever
you IKE to call them; sd fhst III shape
ne Is somewhat like tack hammer.
lie u shaped very much ike hammer
neaaeo shark, only hammer-headed
SHARKS are not familiar enough in
Northern waters to serve for an illustra-
ton. lie is a creature of mold and
slime, like the snail. Let an old box lilo
on Tie ground, particularly ina moist
place. TIL the bottom boasds begin to
decay, and your scorpion trap is ready.
when you want your game lift up the
box and there is your scorpion. But be
careful TO take hold of the box near the
top, and not get your fingers in the way
for the scorpion is very rapid in his mo-
tons and he will give you a sting before
you know it, When he strikes wa with
the end OF his tail, like wasp, he ex.
udes venomous liquid, and man
might better hold q red-hot iron in his
hand than get the tenth part Of Iron
of this liquid into his blood. IT "a not
necessarily fatal, particularly in the
Bahamas; but IL condenses the heat of
forty furnaces. In some parts of South
America scorpion bites are Frequently
fatal, but | have not heard of any one
having being killed by them in Nassua.
This is easily accounted for. The SCOT
pich likes to feed upon deca7ing l. I al,
The centipede is much larger tht b.
scorpion, and | think even more shid
dreaded. He grows sometimes III
six or eight inches long, but is slim atn
rather fiat. He, too, travels rather
fast Che ought to, he has legs enough),
and he scratches rather than bites,
leaving an ugly mark wherever he sets
in one OF his numberless claws, Like
the scorpion, he lives under Boards or
stones or at the bottom of old walls.
He is Made up all in joints, like the
tapeworm, and each joint has either
two or four legs. l never examined
one closely enough to see exactly
which, for even after they are all cut
into bits the pieces have an unpleasant
habit of wiggling themselves about.
They say about them here that a cent?
pede will not die before ldark, nd mat
ter how much you cut him up; but [
think that STORY will do to 60 with the
yarn about snakes having the same bad
habit | have cut up few dozens OF
them with hoes, here in Nasspa, that
am sure died before was through with
Them. When | say IN Nassau / mean
here at Waterloo, which is mile and
\ hsf out of town. These insects are
'arsly seen in the city. and American
VISITORS often complain that they have
10 60 Rome without sight of any of
Them. The centipede's poison lies in
his claws. There is a bent and very
sharp claw at the end of each leg which
sticks into the flesh, and II he gets one
ofthese claws into you he quickly pulls
himself up upon your hand, Or Whatever
part OF you he has hold of, and sets
in the rest have talked with peo-
pie who have been poisoned by cent?
pedes, and they describe the sensation as
anything but pleasant He,has not, of
course, a hundred legs, but he's has
great many, and makes them a1fcount.
One gentleman in Nassau described to
me thrilling encounter he had with a
'entipede. On going to bed one night /
ne put on that long white linen garment |
Which i so comforting to the senses in
hot climate, and it did not take him
ong to discover that there was some
hing IN it. A moment later cent?
'ede was fastened to his back, and the
Gentleman was trying to tear the linen
N with as little delay as possible. The
'entipede by this time had given up all
lain to the linen, but held on to the
,acs for dear life. They stick very
'ghdy, having to be almost torn off;
md the gentleman had to call for help
o have him pulled off. By the time
arrived the insect had crawled
foot or two up his victims back, leav-
ng fiery red mark wherever a cla ny
lad touched. And all this time the i
entleman was enjoying the sensation
I having hundred hot needles run
1to him. From this and some similar
Experiences it is quite fashionable in the
ropics to shake your clothes well before
utting them on. remember lady
new arrival at the hotel-asking ME
ne day whether hung up my shoes at
light to keep the insects out of themp
try to imagine man taking the
rouble to hang up his shoes before 60
ig to bed, but can tquite do it. Cent?.
edes are more plentiful than scorpions,
ut notquite so likely to sting. 1 have
zen barefoot man step on one
'ithout being hurt. probably because
lie insect had no chance to turn and
SO Its claws. They are Just about on
par with scorpions as regards the eff
ct OF their poison. In some places the
feet OF a centipede's sting has been
tai, but it is not so here.
wanted to end this chapter on trop-
al nuisances by saying something
bout my ancient enemy, the sand-hy,
1T words fail me. 1t is very seldom.
I'd then only on remarkably still days,
at there are any about in the winter.
ut during the rainy season they are ex-
'edingly thick. No mosquito netting
i'll keep them out, they are so small.
hey give no warning, like mosquito,
1T proceed at once to business. You
ell sting on some part of your
lin, and perhaps see there a black
'eck about the size of pins point.
ut he must be full of poison, for the
tie swells up and itches, and you get !
genty more of them, and you scratch
Il they're all sore and get little scabs
them, make and you look as if you
al smallpox. When l get back to New !
ork no mosquito shall ever tempt me
to impotence. I'll just think of the
nd-flles and be content Nassau (Bd-
MAJ Cor. Cincinnati Enquirer.