Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1899-02-06
USEFUL CRAWLER,S.
MEDICINES WHICH ARE MANuFAc- TURED FROM VARIOUS BUGS.


 
 The List Includes cochroachos, Spiders,
 Snakes and Boes-AlI Said to be Enica.
 eious and Possess Many Virtues Homeo-
 paths Favor the Use of Beetles.
 Many people will be surprised to learn that use has been found for our friend the eoekroaeh For years he has been branded as a pest, and we have dosed him with borax, plaster of paris and insect powder. Now the ta- bles are turned, and the insect physics us. American doctors say that tincture of cockroach is good for asthma, and the preparation has been used lately in England. Anyone wishing to try the remedy can make it by soaking four large cockroaches in an ounce of spirit of wine for Q few days. Twenty drops of this liquid on a lump of sugar ought to charm away the worst attack Of course, patients might object to the word coclKroaeh, but the Latin name, Ilatta 0rientailis, is sufficient to allay the fears of the most particular Cock roach tea is a faverite domestic medi- cine with the working classes in Rus sia. If coclroaches will cure us, there is no reason why spiders should not be tried also. As matter of fact, they have been used by the homoeopaths for years. Solomon told us we could find spiders even in kings palaces, but now adays we can trace them in innocent looking tinetures and sugar pills. Tar antu1a pilules is title that should be worth fortune if well advertised, and tincture prepared from the mygale- the great bird-eating spider of Mexico ought certainly to possess equal vir- tues. Our choice, however, is not con- fined to giant spiders.
 The garden spider, with the gold or silver body. so common in the sum- mer, will yield a useful preparation if we may trust to the homoeopa- thic pharmacopeia A few of these insects rubbed down in mortar with a little spirit, will make moth CT tineture.' from which countless dilutions can be prepared. If this will not suffice, the black curacoa spider, from West Indian orange groves, or the gray spider of Kentucky, may be used, according to taste The homoeo- paths are fond of beetles, and they treat ladybirds in the same way as spiders. They also get an essence from the Colorado beetle-the insect which ruined the potato crops few years back. 1t is one thing to rob the bees wholesale and secure their wax and honey, but it is rather hard lines on poor apis mellifiea, to turn her into medicine as well. But she has to go in with the rest, and yield her life in the cause of science. Of course, anyone who has felt bees sting knows what 8 powerful drug it's poison must be. It's rather dangerous work robbing a hive of bees of their stings and poison. The method recommended in books is simple, but exciting. The bees are to be caught in bottle as they leave their home in the morning. They are then deprived of their poison bags and stings by means of scissors, and the severed portions are soaked in spirit to make Q tincture.
 Besides insects, other queer things are used in medicine at the present time. To give only two examples, rem edies are prepared from the starfsh and the crayfish. Snake venom-no- tably that of the cobra, the rattlesnake and the adder-is sometimes used. Nowadays great many drugs of ani- nal origin are being experimented with, and some people prophecy that they will eventually oust all the rest.