The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-06-09

fangs are so weak that it cannot pene-
! trate the skin in parts of the body that
| are ordinarily exposed. II by chance,
| however it bites a particularly sensitive,
thin-skinned portion of the body which
is especially we'll provided with blood YES
sells the results are likely to be painful
and serious. This spider occurs under old
! logs and rubbish and is occasionally found
! tn out houses. IT is rather common in
| the Southwest and extends in small num-
bers northeas tward to New England
| / have been unable to authenticate
| single instance of death from the bite OF
| the large spiders known as tarantulas,
although ciTcumstantially reported cases
are frequent in the newspapers. These
stories usually tell how the tarantulas
! have been imported with bananas or other
| tropical fruit A good example appeared
in a daily paper published in large
Western city two years ago. The scare
headlines read In two weeks three men
have died from the bites of tarantulas and
another had 10 have his arm amputated.
All We're Sicilians and received their death
wounds in tho steaming rooms of fruit
houses" The exact locality were given.
l had the matter examined with great
care by scientific friends resident in that
city ana he found after thorough exam
ination that there was no truth wha teVer
in the newspaper statement.
Many of the true bugs give severe pune
lures with their beaks. Some of them
insert a slight amount Of poison, but the
inlammatory effects which occasionally
follow the bite of most of them are due
to the fact that their beaks have pre-
viously been inserted into some dead or
decaying animal matter SO that the
germs of putrefaction are thus carried
into tl& human blood. This is the ex-
pianation of the comparatively few au-
thentic dases of severe swelling following
the bite of the so-called kissing bugs. The
large aquatic bug which of recent years
has become known as the electric light
bug" has a sharp beak and may infiict
q severe wound when incautiously ham
died. Serious results, however, are not
known to follow. The large. ungainly,
predaceous bug known as the wheel
bug" may give a severe wound under
similar conditions, and Glover, many years
ago, reported a serious swelling of his
hand and a subsequent sloughing off of
the skin and superficial tissues Of the ball
of his thumb as a result from the bite
of this insect.
There is a little group of caterplllars
armed with sharp hairs which will pierce
the skin and produce sometimes an in
tense irrta ton much like that which is
produced by the nettle. The commonest
of these caterpillars are the so-called sad
OF the 10 or corn emperor" moth. The
irritation produced by these creatures is
sometimes as severe as the severest cases
of poisoning from nettles. l have seen
the hand of a young woman swollen to
twice its normal size, causing great pain,
in consequence Of being stung. The presi
dent of a Baptist college in the West
wrote last year that one of these cater
pillars accidentally touched his wrist and
14o III, agot
ing and could not be allayed by any treat
ment" The caterpillar of the so-called
brown-tailed moth, a recent importation
from Europe which exists in numbers
about Boston, has this peculiar quality
and the laborers engaged by the Gypsy
Moth Commission were frequently stung by
these caterpillars during the summer of
1899, with painful effects. Then, again,
the so-called blister beetles of which there
are many species in this country, are oc-
casionally the cause of a blistering pois-
on. When one of these insects alights
on the back of ones neck the first i'm
pulse is to brush it off and 1t frequently
gets crushed, in which case the blistering
effect of it's juices is very marked.
There is little danger from centipedes
and scorpions in this country even in the
Southern states. Notwithstanding an al
most universal belief to the contrary, a
scorpions sting is no more dangerous than
that of a honey bee. and often the effect
is no worse than that of the prick of a
pin. Down IN Mexico, however, and es-
pecially in the state of Durango there is
a scorpion generally known as the Du-
range scorpion, which is much feared.
The stories about even this creature, how
ever. are generally exaggerated. and DR..
Edward Palmer. who has lived in that
state, says that he has known but one
death TO result from the sting of this
creature, and that was Of a young wo-
man who was in very bad health at the
time. In the same way stories about
centpedes are also exaggerated. We have
no dangerous species in the United States.
The tropical ceAtipedes bite with their
maxillipeds and possess poison glands.
The old stories that they exude poison
from the tips of their sharp claws and
leave a trail like fire when they walk
over the skin of a human being are en-
tirely false Their bite is poisonous. but
the result is not serious.
In Central America, and among the
Mexicans in Texas. New Mexico, Arizona
and Southern California, many harmless
insects are generally considered poison
Gus. This Is due to a special cause. 1t
arises from the fact that the blood of
these people is so vitiated by unclean dis
eases, that an Insignificant bite or scratch
is apt to bring on blood poisoning fol-
lowed by serious results.