Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-07-10

that the horse which treads upon taran-
tula will instantly loose its hoof; but we
take the statement with many grains OF
allowance for if literally true half the
beasts in Mexico would be hoohess.
CdSamGpatlga spiders are similar to taran-
tulas, often larger than the palm of your
hand, their fuzzy backs shading from
bronze to yellow The centipedes are
scarcely less common than scorpions,
averaging quarter of a yard in
length-though | have seen many that
would measure fully nine inches The So
journer in Mexico has no need to hunt for
one, for they may always be found wander
ing around his room, hidden in his din
ner-napkin, sleeping the sleep of the Just
among the china on the pantry shelf, or
stealing along his chair with the evident
intention of making a voyage of discovery
down the back OF the travellers neck or up
his stockings. The assertion that the
centipede " bites with its legs" rises in the
fact that it is not only furnished with
PAIR OF HORNY JAWS,
But has another set of organs closely con-
nected with the mouth, regarded by
naturalists as transformed legs, which are
dilated and united at the base, terminated
by strong hooks and pierced beneath the
extremity for the emission of yenomou5
fluid Should you discover one crawling
over any portion your anatomy, you
must have nerve enough to remain
perfectly quiet without SO much as the
quivering of muscle until he drags him
self off at his leisure, which may be hours
later, for he is by no means an agile crea-
ture. At the least alarm he naturally
clings for safety to whatever his feet chance
to be resting upon, and where every one of
his hundred hooks have pierced with their
poison the flesh will slough OF to the very
bone and death may ensue by slow de-
grees. Jet-black centipedes are OCCASION
ally seen; others are composed of alternate
links of brown and white, each link fur
nished with pairs of red legs, the round
head and feelerS being of the same bright
color; but the most common ones are the
wickedest-those of pale green, with legs
shading to delicate yellow. Baron Hum
boldt says that he often saw Indian chill
dren of the Chaymas tribe draw long, green
centipedes out of the ground and chew
them-all but the legs-with the greatest
relish. There are many other
INTERESTING CREATURES,
Fer whose venom no remedy is known.
There is the coraliIie, viper of coral hue
but deadly, striped with colors like Ro-
man ribbon; milk-white vipers, whose
bite is certain death. And everyone of
these loathsome reptiles is roasted and
eaten by the Indians as a cure for skin
diseases 1t is strange fact-made known
to the world by DIR. Weir Mitchell, in 1868
that "a no poisonous snake can poison it.
self" yet there is the estGboneilto, shaped
like lizard, which throws itself upon you
with a spring, and if prevented from biting
will spitefully chew its own back and legs
until it dies.
Another interesting little animal is the
whom you may discover by his
strong odor of vinegar. He resembles a
beetle, of brilliant orange color, and gently
taps upon the person whom he walks over,
without giving the slightest pain, but leav-
ing behind train of deadly poison. How
often, in the wee sma' hours, has Betsy
awakened me, declaring she smelled vine
gar all about us-and such is the power of
the imagination that soon both of Us
would have sworn to it, though no VIVA
grilla was to be found Then there is the
BLACK, LIzzARD-sHAPED sALAMANoUERA,
Whose bite is sure and horrible death a
spider like an honest glow
MO1lu, WIZ LID II Oll DuCh
the handsome black and red chineidquitO,
whose sting sends racking pains through
all your bones, which can only be relieved
by :" curing" yourself like a ham, shut up
for days in a close room thick with smoke
the rata, bright-eyed social snake, which
insists upon living in the house, and is
generally found sleeping in the cupboard
his seal-brown back crossed with crescent
bands of white, and his belly red as
robins in springtime and hundred other
varieties whose names | do not know.
Besides these deadly pests, there are nu-
merous comparatively harmless torment
ors, such, for example, as the tiny, inno-
cent-looking fly which comes along mildly,
singing in an absent-minded manner, and
continues on his way without causing you
to suspect that he has SO much as noticed
your existence. But the deceitful little
wretch has contrived to get in his work by
probing you unawares with long, invis-
ible lance, leaving under the skin an infin
itesimal egg, which at first gives no pain
or sign of injury. With astonishing rapid
ity this egg develops into a worm, which
in ten days time develops into hale and
hearty grandmother, the whole family
in equal, ratio and wriggling
under your tortured caais till your courage
TlSeS W Lie DOluL vi W oil
putation to get rid of them. Even worse
than these wandering flies are
THE GARRIPoTAs,
For they enter boldly where angels fear
to tread" and bury their whole disgusting
bodies beneath the skin before the victim
can say Jack Robinson. And there is no
help for it but another amputation or to
put on a powerful poultice and wait for the
tenant to die and be dragged
out. We are told that the natives of Mexi-
co.'s southern coasts inoculate themselves
with the virus of adders, cobras and rattle
snakes, and that persons who have been
thus vaccinated are rendered forever proof
against injury from any bite or sting. As
to the truth of the statement, decline
to be sworn in any court of justice, but
" tell the tale as twas told to me- The
person to be inoculated is prieked with the
serpent's fang, on the tongue, in both arms
and legs and various parts of the body, the
venom being thoroughly introduced into
each wound. An Eruption Immediately
breaks out, accompanied by fever and
much swelling of the body after
which the skin gradually flakes off in
scales, as in leprosy. Now comes the most
unbelievable part of the story. 1t is said
that people who have been yaccinated in
this manner can not only handle the most
poisonous serpents with impunity-mak-
ing them come at Will, earessing them,
twining them about their necks and
carving them in their bosom but
that the bite OF these persons
themselves is as fatal as that of the snake
whose virus has been transferred into their
blood The reader is scarcely expected to
swallow this snake story nevertheless it
is vouched for by many good people, both
native and foreign, whose word is unim-
peachable-upon other subjects.
FANNIE B. WARD.