Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-23
SCORPIONS AND CENTIPEDES,
Their Stings Are Not so Dangerous as
is Commonly Reported.


mo. I don't believe that the sting Of any
scorpion would kill a human being, save,
perhaps, under extraordinary conditions. In
southern ATTITUDES wounds of any kind are
more dangerous than in cooler climates, and
the setting In Of fever may produce fatal
results"
The speaker was Dr. George Marx Of
Washington, who is recognized as the great
est authority on arachnids In this country.
Scorpions are tropical animals" he
added. They do not get very far north.
They live under the bark of long -leaved
pines in the northern part OF their range,
and. inasmuch as trees of that kind do not
occur in this vicinity. they find no suitable
domicile hereabouts. Such pines grow in
Baltimore county. Maryland. and so a spe-
cies of scorpion exists there. 1t is yellow
with brown stripes. and measures about two
inches in length
THE biggest scorpions in the world are
those Of India. which attain a length of six
Inches. In California scorpions four and
one-haf inches long are found. They are
the largest that occur in America. Be
tween them and the smallest species are
many. The sting of a small one is about as
severe as that OF wasp. and the effects of
1t soon pass.
The Scorpions Sting.
The scorpion carries its tail over its
back and snaps it backward for the pur-
pose of infiicting sting. 1t has two poison
glands side by side in the last Joint of its
tall 1t Is said that scorpions will commit
suicide by singing themselves to death
when they are put into a circle Of burning
charcoal. 1 don't know whether this is true
or not; the question has not been cleared
Up.
scorpions live on beetle larvae and slow
run mi
under the bark of trees in the daytime and
pursue their prey at night. The whip-taile
scorpions-so called because of a peculia :
appendage of which the use is not known
ere not POISONOUS: For the purpose OF de-
fense they squirt fine streams of fluid that
smells like vinegar. Doubtless 1t Is often
sive to some of their enemies"
The Centipede.
Every now and then one reads in the
newspapers a frightful story about a cent?
pede. According to these accounts. the ami
NAL Is just bit more dangerous than a
rattlesnake. Not only Is its bite fatal. but
1t carries poison in the little claws with
which its numerous legs are terminated
crawling over mans bare flesh. it burns
IKE nre To move is death. for then the
creature will dig its envenomed feet into
the victim, who will presently be reduced
TO the condition of loathsome and bloated
corpse.
An expert in centipedes Is attached to
the smithsonian Institution. He knows all
about the creatures. and he says that the
bite or one OF these animals is less poison
Gus than the sting Of the scorpion. That it
could ever kill anybody is most unlikely
The claws are sharp and unpleasant to the
feel when a centipede walks over the bare
skin. but they have no venom
There are two distinct types Of centipedes
One of them may be termed the true cent?
pede type. with fiat body and only one
pair or legs on each segment. The largest
forms are all poisonous. Whether the
smaller ones are so is undetermined. The
jaws OF this kind of centipede are perforat-
ed by channels which convey the poison
into the wound made by the bite. The &C.
ton Is somewhat the same as in the case of
venomous serpent.
The other type Of centfpede IL built on
the thousand-leS plan and attains a length
OF ten inches The biggest in this part of
the world will not exceed five inches 1t
mas Tour legs to each segment. and some
tunes as many as sixty-tive segnents 1t
Is easy to count up how many legs that
makes. Though not as many as Loo, they
are sufficient. This style of centipede is
ten wood and other decaying vegetable
material. They live in the ground and
among rotten leaves and wood.
Centipctles as Roommatcs.
In some parts of the world centipedes are
regarded with superstitious veneration A
friend Of the writer's once visited Buenos
Ayres and engaged room at a boarding
house He found eight large centipedes in
his quarters before be went down to din
ner. Having killed them, he informed the
lanGlady of the circumstance. She ex-
pressed the utmost grief, and declared that
the destruction of the creatures would take
Way all good luck from her establishment
for eight years to come-one year for each
centipede.
Centipedes, well as great SPIDERS are
sometimes brought to this country from the
tropics with fruit. They are often found
hidden in punches of bananas. Scorpions
make the voyage in the same way. A ma
val officer ted The Star writer that in
warm ATTITUDES big scorpions are apt to get
on board ship and conceal themselves in
shoes or other garments. 1t is not pleasant
to put ones arm in the sleeve of coat
and to find an unlock editor scorpion there.
The arachnid IL fresh intruder, is likely
to be very much more poisonous, and its
bite correspondingly more severe than af
ter 1T has been on the vessel for while.