The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1890-01-02
For THE NATroSAL THTBuaEI
HEALTH HINTS
For Old and Young.
ny FELIX Il. OSWALD NJ D.,
Author of Physical Education"; Household
Romcdies": "'rhe Bible Of Nature" etc.
CHAPTER XIX.
ANIMAL porsoNs-tcontinued.)


Lubbock, the oracle of ant-lore, informs US that
his pets can appreciate holiday VOL as other
| workers, and IN foul weather often get as lazy
as barrack soldiers, but in emergencies can ac-
| complish miracles by prompt and ingenious
| DIVISION OF labor; and In war time defend their
comrades with an absolute disregard OF danger
Bees aud wasps too, seem TO act upon Gen.
! Sloltkes principle: Divided on forays united
IN battle aud often attack an enemy with a
suddenness of simultaneous rage that makes
! them tho most formidable rebels against the
universal tyranny Of man. Individual bees
appear to have means of sounding an alarm by
| peculiar bnzz, aud after six persons have
| passed beehive unmOlested, the seventh may
be attacked by n whole swarm, darting out at
! him rs II by precOncerted signal.
Wa5ps and their larger relatives may, indeed
| become as dangerous as any venom.armed
| reptile aud remember case where their COM
| blnaton tactics proved fatal TO an animal that
! had twice recovered from severe shot wounds
During an expedition TO the Sicrro dc Jaisco
in southern Mexico, our troopers had just gone
| into camp, when the barking of eur stampeded
/ one Of our best hOrses-a fine Spanish stallion
| that eluded all pursuers and trotted up q
ravne prancIng and snorting, till his tether-
rope got eptaugled in bush, where he seemed to
| lose his wits altogether and plunged about as if
! distracted. The cause of his antics became how
ever, sufficiently clear when two -four men, sent
| up to recaptnre him, returned with the report
| that the horse was rolling about in Il thick cloud
| of steel-bue hornets. Neither our command
| ing officer nor our native guides could suggest
any remedy, and tho Scrgeants plan of APP
| preaching the scene OF martyrdom with bundles
! of smoking brushwood was tried too late Be
/ fore our ioragers had collected the material Of
tho first iaggot the struggles Of the stallion bad
| ceased blood and foam Oozed from his nOstrls
| and all we could do for him was to terminate his
| agony by sending long range rifle ball through
| his brain. That same horse had been twice
| wounded by heavy Mexican musket-bals, one
OF which pierced his neck four inches below
his ears, but only put him the sick list for a
| week.
In swarming time cluster Of bees OCCASION
ally settles upon the shoulder or head OF their
Keeper, and will keep the peace If they are left
alone for a minute or two. aud then detached
gently and gradually; but strangers who at once
resort to violent methods OF defense are apt to
pay the mistake with their lives. OF two
| boys who had got "stung all over" under such
circumstances, one saved himself only by pluug-
ing hGadlong into puddle of mud water the
younger rolled, screaming, ia the grass, aud his
terrified mother, realizing the danger OF delay,
could bcthink herself OF nothing better than a
bottle of sweet oil tolive oil, which she
promptly broke over large piece OF flannel
and then rubbed the screeching yOungster from
head to heels. sort of intuition seemed To
| have suggested that plan, for the unusual
remedy proved n success aud before the end of
the week tho swollen victim was on his legs
again, though has pulse remained abuormaliy
rapid for three days longer. According to his
own statement he bad got stung in more places
than he had hairs OH his head, and at all events
the amount oi poison thus injected into his
system must have equalled that of frst-class
rattlesuake bite.
Ants OF several tropical species can become
equally dangerous to the disturber OF their
Eak,.
foes with "A teuacity surprising that OF bull
dog, since even decapitation will often fail TO
break the hold of their jaws. A solution OF
ammonia. water has often q magical effect in
relieving the after pain of insect bites. The
liquid should be rubbed in slowly with a piece
OF soft cloth, and left TO m0i5ten the skin for
two or three minutes, when friction may be-
renewed til the burning pain has been allayed.
Next TO ammonia \ solution OF saleratus or
baking soda will prove the most effective ano-
dyne. Hot vinegar, strong brine, aud various
kinds of tat common butter, IL nothing else
is handy,) have been used for the same purpose
with good results.
Single insect bites are rarely fatal. The
viruleuce OF tarautua poison, for instance. has
been ahsurdly exaggerated, aud IN Italy, where
tarautulas are almost as frequent rs crickets
are on an American prairie, the natives kick
them out of the way without much ado aud
would no more think of seeking medical aid in
case Of bite than our ceuntrymen would after
an encounter with q single hornet Three
hundred years ago the strange dancing mania
OF southern Europe Was ascribed To the bite of
the much siandered sand spider but that belief
has been traced 10 u curious mistake. Music
having been found To exercise "a Remarkably
soothing effect upon the epileptic dancer, Il
special class of tunes was composed 10 serve as
"A sort of incautation. Like the MaTseileise"
those melodies were named after the place Of
their orgin-the city of laramie, in southern
Italy. The TdreHteiia tune, as il was called
was subsequently introduced into countries
where tafantuas were better known than the
town from which they. too, derive their name
and the absurd fable thus hinged upon an etymo-
logical blunder. The true cause OF Iarangism
WAS probably q chronic form OF nervous deranee-
ment due 90 nnwholesomc food. sexual excuses,
| religious excitement, etc. aud there is no doubt
| that thousands OF epileptics danced themselves
| into u raging fever in northern France, Holland
| Germany, aud other countries, where tarantuias
/ were known only by name. The popular ex-
| PLANTATION ia such cases was the theory that
somebody or other-a pious pilgrim, PERHAPS
had been bitten by foreign ground-spider. aud
| after contracting the mysterious disease had
| communicated At To his feilow.suiierers by tho
| purely mental influence of his CHASTITY con-
| tortions. The actual effects of n tarantula bite
are not unlike those Of n severe wasp-stng-
| "A burning pain, slight swelling and an itching
| oltS'-sth7't'oh i9otiHS perhaps 10 tuo Gnu %
| the next day.
Centipedes naict far uglier wounds One
/ South American species attains n length of IL
| inches, aud moves along rapidly with the aid of
4 three dozen pairs OF feet, every one of which is
| armed with sharp hook followed like a
serpent's fang, for the discharge of an aerid
| liquid. In scTimmage where one-fOurth of
| those hooks come into action the creature can
produce Il sore that makes q mans foot or arm
| swell up all along an in1amed line of nine or
| ten inches; but happily the centipede, like the
| being only in self defense, and if not molested
| will crawl the whole length of persons body
| without the slightest attempt ut hostility. At
campfire III western Nucatau | once saw
native soldier dispose of visitor of that sort in
| safe and effective manner. Seeing the ugly
| creature crawl up his naked, or raj her sandaed
| foot, he reached slowly back. grabbed his pocket
| knife aud pressed the open blade Hat down upon
| his knee just in the centipede's line of march.
! The moment the vermin got plurality OF its
| feet upon that blade the Mexican flung il of as
| neatly and completely IA one might dash of
| an intrusive caterpillar. Hext to serpent poison
the virus OF the centipede produces the most
| serious inflammation; STILL | cannot say that
| ever heard of its effects terminating fatally.
| Nausea, fever, severe headaches, and in chill
dren perhaps, commissions, are the worst symp-
| toms apt To follow the bite of the Scolopendra
| Hlorritans and many of it's small northern con-
| genefs are as harmless as earwigs though their
| sudden appearance in DWELLING house is dis
| gushing enough to justify their prompt destruc-