The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-10-13

!. poisoneus Reptiles That Abound j,

~olsoneus Reptiles That Abound in
Mexico.
As Eden had its serpent, so all these Mex
lean paradises are infested by thousand
dangerous creeping and crawling creatures,
writes correspondent How often have
Betsy and sighed for suits Of battle armor,
as--after a delightful day in some gray
walled hacienda and an evening of music
and dancing in the great hall of the casa
our troubles began in the solitude Of our
chamber and ended only with the dawning |!
The fact of being obliged to shake scorpions
out of the blankets before we dare to en-
sconce ourselves within them, TO chase cen.
tipedes and tarantulas from under the pill
lows, and to search the mattresses for posi-.
bic serpents, lizards and vipers, is not con.
duciye to peaceful slumbers; nor is g tired
natures sweet restorer easily moved when
visions of venomous things crawling up the
bedposts and spinning downward from the
wall are dancing before ones weary eyes.
Especially in the lowlands of the terra
satispte eternal vigilance is the price of
safety. Imagine your sensations, gentle
reader, upon awakening in the morning to
see something fluttering in the breeze upon
your window lattice or stretched along the
floor like shining ribbon, the cast off skin
OF q cobra or some other Objectionable
snake which had been making its toilet in
your immediate vicinity over night, or to
have your dreams rudely broken in upon
BY something Pumping down from the wall
upon your pillow, perhaps barely missing
your nose, which proves upon investigation
to be nest of scorpions with their tails
twisted together, or a nice fat tarantula,
whose hairy legs, if spread out, would
measure several inches from tip to tip.n
And whatever the alarm, upon no account
must you jump out of bed without first
striking light and looking carefully where
you step and what you touch.
One Of the most common pests are scor-
pions, or alcardns, which during certain
seasons of the year are rs thick as flies
around sugar house, darling about every
where with inconceivable rapidity, their
tails (the business end" which contains
the sting) ready to fly up with dangerous
effect upon the slightest provocation.
They are within the cracks of the wall,
between the bricks or tiles of the floor and
hiding inside your garments. Turn up the
corner Of rug or tablespread and you dis
turb an interesting family of them; shake
your shoes in the morning and out they
flop, and before using your bath sponge be
sure to throw 1t into the water, for half
dozen Of them may have worked themselves
into the tiny holes for siesta in its cool
depths; in short, every article you touch
must be treated like a dose of(medicine,
"to be we'll shaken before tal1en.n Their
sting is not necessarily fatal, but is very
severe for child and moro or less SO for
adults, according to the constitution and
state of the system.
Scorpions cat the egg ct spiders, and
also feed ON beetles AMI other insects, seiz
ing them with their lobster like claws and
singing them to death with their tails be-
fore eating them. When alarmed or irri.
lated they run nbont rapidly, showing great
6erceness and evidently aware of the powar
of their sting moving it in all directions,
whether for attack or defence, as If threat
ening an adversary. The young scorpions
are produced at astonishngly frequent in
teryals, the mother displaying far greater
regard for her offspring than their vicious
nature would seem to Justify, for she car
ries them clinging in great numbers to her
back, limbs and tail during the several
days Of their youth, when she never leaves
her retreat for moment unless forced TO
do so, or, being oyerburdened by this
weight her hold relaxes from the wall over
head, and the whole happy family fall down
in snarl upon you. Betsy and frequent
ly amuse ourselves by studying their habits,
catching them with lassoes of thread and
suspending them, heads downward, in
bottles of alcohol, and sending them 10
microscopically inclined friends at tho
North.
Their sting is always attended with ex-
treme nausea and considerable constitution
al arrangement, the effect sometimes last
ing for may weeks. Sometimes the victim
remains for many days in commissions,
foaming at the mouth, with stomach swelled
as in dropsy. The chief cures are brandy
taken in sufficient quantity to stupefy the
patient ammonia, administered both ex-
ternally and internally, guyacum and oiled
silk. II is also of use to press large key
or other tube on the wound to force out
part of the poison. The average scorpion
is mahogany hued and about two inches
long, but have seen them rs long as four
or FIVE inches. The small yellowish variety
are said to be most dangerous. In Durango
they are black and so alarmingly numerous
having been allowed to breed for centur-
les in the deserted mines--that now the
government offers a reward ESQ much per
head, or rather per tall to whoever will kill
them. The natives believe that scorpion
bites are most to be apprehended at mid.
In, and they are said to have the poor
Ia ste to prefer dark people to fair ones
q statement which we devoutly desire to be-
lievs. The Indians eat them after pulling
out the sting--a " crunchyp sort OF
mo,csau, probably. as delightful as crabs
snails, frogs anaGmilar American delicacies
though your scribe begs to be excused
from rendering other than " hearsay testi-
mony on the subject.
Eyarts ms d Lawyer.