Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-14
We DEADLY oENTIPEpE.


1t is with much pleasure that I read in
devils riding horse" When we located
in Texas we found devils riding horses,
tarantulas, centipedes, etc, in consid
cradle numbers, and. of course have been
looking upon them with faer and trembling,
that fear and trembling being based on
what we had heard of them before coming;
but that discussion of the DEVILS riding
horse, by your correspondents is beginning
to quell our fears, so far as relates to one
of the deadly things of Texas, at least If
one Of your lady correspondents has no
fears of the D. R. H, and can find them
even of service in her flower culture, why
should we men be scared when we see one
of the creatures, and why should not we
men conclude that If the said ID. K. H., Is
useful in the culture of flowers it would not
also be useful to US in the culture of our
squashes and melous2 In other words, if it
will eat flies and worms, and fight cats as
Messrs. Steed and Ward declare it will do,
why not eat squash bugs, and also be
instrumental in breaking up the 'catter-
wallings' around our homes at night2 If it
will do these things we desire to introduce
it into the Illinois colony on Red river. and
therefore besDeak a few pairs for ourselves
when your spring stock so much promised
you, has arrived in the spring. Don't for
get US when the spring trade openS-send
US 4 uOefal supply u ~. ~.
And now, since you are so good as to
handle these questions of natural history
through THE GAZETTE, 1 have one, and, to
me, very serious one. that would like to
PROFOUND. a few weeks ago, while threSh-
ing oats, centipede got inside my clothes
and bit me three times on the back before
| could get it out. Several of the men
expressed great sympathy for me, and
offered what consolation they could by
asserting that they would not be
in my place for farm, and by
telling me of what they knew of effects
from centipede bites. One neighbOr said a
centipede bite always caused all the flesh
to fall OFF from the part Of the body bitten.
A neice of his at Henrietta had been bitten
on the cheek by a centipede, and all her
cheek fell OF smooth and clean to the bone.
Another neighbor said he hau known a col
ored woman to get ceutipede bite on the
calf of her leg, and that all the flesh of that
particular leg had promptly fallen of from
the knee down. OF course 1t was very
gratifying TO me to learn that 1
had been bitten by a thing that the neigh
borhod knew all about. so went home and
got everything ready for naked spine.
But my wife is an incredulous woman, so
while l was waiting for the flesh to drop
she went to monkeying with the bitten
places, by squeezing them between her
thumb and finger, and putting hartshorn
upon LQell. L wei KuSN lutl. IL was al
labor in vain, as the neighbors had already
told me exactly what would happen, Of
their own knowledge, but didn't want to
cross her in our misfortune, poor soul so
allowed her to have her own way.
Well, in a few hours all bad symptoms of
those bites had disappeared just about as
would have been the case had they been
the stings- of wasp instead of the bitesof
centipede, and have known nothing of
them since, but I am still waiting for
the inevitable, as everybody knows
it. and so write to ask what had best do.
Would you recommend that go East and
take 4 course of Pasteur's innoculation for
hydrophobia, Or do you think il might be
better for me to take q round Of Koch's
lymphl I don't at al Ike the idea OF
having my spine. unprotected By flesh, ex-
posed to such Dreezes as ron over the
prairies of Texas.
Let me hear from you through TIE
GAZETTE. If we cannot have the natural
history of our plants and animals, such as
we see every day, taught Us in the common
schools, II IS some consolation TO reflect
that we can get lesson or SO. occasion
ally, through the Agricultural Department
of the Fort Worth GAZETTE.
WALTER d. BENTLEY.
Thornberry, Clay county, Texas.
We need not introduce Mr. Bentley as 4