Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-07-01
STUNG BY A SCORPION,
HOW THE DEADLY INSECT MAKES
ITS WAY NORTHWARD.

"A Scared Darksy in New York Fru;f
store-The Old Druggists Eemedy-The
.Nule Killers" Description of the scor.
pion Family.
Il reporter was hurrying down Barclay
street q few days ago, conscious that be
had but few minutes in which 10 catch
the Hoboken ferryboat, when he suddenly
stopped at dark opening, which led into
still darker basement. Bunches OF ba-
nanas hung TO the Intel and were feS-
TONED up the jambs Of the doorway.
while bursting crates Of golden oranges
were piled on the downward leading steps.
1t was an agonizing yell, which seemed
TO hint of murder and sudden death, as il
burst from the receSses of this dingy look
ing cavern that had arrested his steps.
He had not long 10 wait for an explana-
ton. Up the steps, at the risk OF overturn-
ing the piled up boxes of fruit which OBJ
structed the passage, bounded a coal black
negro, whose eyes were bullying out of his
head with mingled fright and pain. and
as he ran he vigorously shook one of his
immense hands, which the reporter could
see was growing every instant still larger.
''Fo' de lawd," he blubbered, use a
dead niggah, suah. Use stung by rat
tier, l is" To dabbler in natural his
tory the opportunity was not TO be missed,
even at the expense of losing half dozen
Hoboken ferry boats, and the reporter
followed the negro as he bolted into a
drug store near by. He found the man
exhibiting his wounded paw to an I'M
sympathetic druggist, who seemed, how
ever, TO know exactly what TO do under
fha HiraJIfYo st a yvbila ha
up a running commentary OF Calculations
bearing on the agony he was suffering.
Hits a terrible bite. suah Hit aches me
way up TO dat ar shoulder. Rattler's
bites poison, ANTS it, sahs'' ''That's 10
RATHER" snorted the druggist. Game
out of bunch of bananas, you sayf Well,
/ guess it was Scorpion
''No, sab, hit came from among dem
Or'nge boxes"
''Then it must have been a spider or
mule Killer said the druggist
BY this time he had prepared a dose
which he gave the terrified darkey to
swallow and then, with a strong smelling
lotion, he bathed the afflicted member.
At this point the reporter took hand in
the conversation. rs that whisky You
gave him to drink:'' he asked.
''No, young man." said the old drug
gist. tits ammonia, and worth quart
of whisky in the case Of a spider or scor-
pion bite
Then a mule killer is a scorpion''
''No, sir, it is not a scorpion"
"Ah, then''-with brilliant ratiocina-
tion-''it's spider"
Wrong again, said the druggist 'Tt
isn't spider"
''Then what on earth is it?''
cts just between the two" said the
druggist, and the darky having subsidized
into a condition Of mute despair, varied
by an occasional moan of lingering agony,
and the store being otherwise deserted,
the druggist became quite conversational
He was an old man with clean shaven
face, struggling gray hair and keen eyes,
which peered at one over the tops of his
Old fashioned spectacles. This was by no
means the first case of q poisonous bite he
had treated, he said, since he had settled
in the neighbOrhood. All around him
were the establishments of dealers in all
sorts of tropical fruits, and hidden in
punches Of bananas, under heaps of cocoa
nuts or in crates of fruit, were often TO
be found scorpions and spiders of all sorts
and sizes. Occasionally the men handling
the fruit get bitten, but more often the
insects are in semi-tOrpid state and are
killed before they get chance to- do any
damage.
"Many years ago" continued the drug
gist, Il was a member of a surveying
party, tor, among other professions have
followed, is that of a surveyor, and found
myself helping TO lay out one of the first
railroads ever run through Florida We
were at WORK during the cold season,
when one evening, after a hard days
work, | rode into camp on my mule, and,
picking up blanket which was lying
across a log, / bucklcd it around my
beasts body TO prevent it catching cold.
Hardly had l done so when the mule be-
gan to indulge in a gymnastic perform
ance which would have put even an army
male 10 the blush. paid no attention at
first beyond passing few obligatory re-
marks, but finally, as he kept up
his kicking and plunging, I determined
to take off the blanket and see If a branch
of thorny immora might not have got en-
tangled in it and account for his restless
ness. Instead Of thorn ] found brown
creature about three inches long hanging
ON for dear life to the mules back. One
Of the men who knew the country rather
better than | said it was mule killer,
aad sure enough, inside Of two hours Mr..
Mule was as dead as the proyerbial her
ring. As We sat round the camp fire that
night many were the stories told OF the
havoc wrought by this Insignificant look
ing pest. Not only mules but valuable
horses have fallen victims by the score TO
this insect, which is variously known "a
the scrU1cher, devil bull driver and whip
scorpion"
The scientific description Of the scor-
pion family states that they have an
elongated body, which, like that Of all
members Of that family, ia divided into
EegInents, the last six Of which, In the
case Of the scorpion, are Of equal size.
The tail is flexible and ends in a sting
The cheliceras or fanGs, are short, and
end in pincer Ike appendage, while the
palpi, or jaw appendagcs, are long and
also end in a forceps. Respiration is ef-
fected by means OF Two pairs OF pulro-
nary sacks, which communicate with the
air through four openings. a curious
thing 10 be noticed about the whip
scorpion Is that the poisonous faugs
above referred 70 take the place Il the
harmless feelers or sntsnng Of beetles.
butterflies. moths and most Of the erI1s-
tacea, such Is Holsters and shrimps. i
cOgnatc change is remarked IN spiders, IL
whom the antennss are replaced by poison
Gus jaws. The anterior pair Of the legs Of
the whip scorpion are also peculiar. They
are much thinner than tie others, and tie
feet are many jointed. 50 rs 20 " capable
Of beng used as Eexlol organs of touch,
80 that this ugly looking beast has turned
his feelers into poisonous jaws and his legs
into feelers. The whip consists Ct the
thin. vicious looking tai, which csa be
lasbed around Ike 8 rawhide 10 ius hands
of =, .rar- man Nsur E~-b zTau s-d