Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1886-04-16
THE SCORPION.
characteristics of n Very Dangerous In
habitant of the Bcrmudas.

characteristics of Very Dangerous In
habitant of the Bcrmudas.
must confess to having had very
vague idea about the scorpion before
becoming acquainted with the tropics.
| think if 1 had been driven to it
should have described him as creature
with wings, black, and somewhere
about the size of humming- bird This
would have been about as inaccurate n
description as can be imagined He
has no wings, he is not black, and he is
nowhere near the size of even n half
grown humming-bird. There is an
imaginary picture of him in all the
almanacs, but it doesn' look very much
like him--that sign of the zodiac.
A ll-grown scorpion is from two to
two-and-a-half inches long and his
color is sort of ashy gray. He has
eight legs, upon all of which minute
hair grows, and his tail is much longer
than there is any necessity for consid-
ering the size of his body, and l
have included that in measuring his
length. 1t is at the end of his tail that
he carries his venomous sting, and
when he curls up his body into semi
circle and brings that lively end of his
tail to bear upon an enemy, the enemy
can not drop him too soon. His body
is nowhere rs thick as lead
pencil, but ut the head it branches out
into claws, or horns, or additional legs,
whichever you like to call them; so that
in shape he is somewhat like tack.
hammer. He is shaped very much like
u hammer-headed shark, only hammer
headed sharks are not familiar enough
in Northern waters to serve for an illus
| tration. He is creature of mold and
slime, like the snail. Let an old box
lie on the ground, particularly in n
moist place, till the bottom boards
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 neal
the top, and not get your fingers in his
way. For the scorpion is very rapid il
his movements, and he will give You /;
sting before YOU know it. When h,
strikes you with the end of his tail, like
n wasp, he cxudes n venomous liquid
and man might better hold red-hot
| llOh III MS iliii tlidil SNb tii' tthli Dhi
of n drop of this liquid into his blood
1t is not necessarily fatal. particularly
in the Bahamas, but it condenses the
heat of forty furnaces.
In some parts of South America scor-
pion bites are frequently fatal, but
have not heard of any one having been
killed by them in Nassau. This is easily
accounted for. The scorpion likes tc
feed upon decaying wood. In South
America, where dye woods and othel
poisonous woods abound, the scorpions
feed upon them, and thus work into
themselves good supply of outside
poison, which, taken together with his
naturally poisonous liquid, does its
work for whoever is unfortunate enough
to be stung. But in Nassau such
poisonous woods are few, and the
scorpions have to fatten themselves
respectfully on pine, cedar and ma.
hogany.
They never attack anybody unless
disturbed. But if barefoot boy steps
on one, or if you pick up stone or q
board with one lying under it, he will
sting you if h. can, and he will do ii
on very short notice, too. j have seen
a decaying board picKca up that had
three or four scorpions lying under it.
Nobody ever thinks of letting one
escape in this part of the world if he
can help it. The same feeling that
sailors have about sharks, people in
tropical countries have about oil these
venomous insects. just as we always
try to kill snake in the North, n
Southerner always tries to kill n taran-
tula, scorpion or II centipede.-Cor,
Boston Commercial bulletin.