The Red Cloud chief., 1901-10-11
POISON OF INSECTS.
DANGER FROM THIS SOURCE MUCH
ovERgsT,MATsD.
tIce s,ings May Cause Death, but tho
Fats, Cases Are Rare -Formic Acid
In Poison OF Ants, wnsps and
Uces.

An interesting article on insect poi
sons Is contributed to the New York
Sun by DIR. l.. o. Howard. chief ento-
mologlst OF the United States Depart
ment OF Agriculture. DR.. Howard
points out that the danger from this
source is very generally over-estimat-
ed In the popular mind. Everywhere
among civilized people, as well as
among uncivilized races. there exists
superstitions regarding perfectly harm
less insects, For example, the COM
mon dragon fly or devils darning
needles. are feared very generally by
English-speaking races and children In
this country think that these harm
less insects will sew up their ears,
Much OF the common superstition
about spider bites Is totally inbound
ed. while the stories about scorpions
and centipedes are grossly exaggerat-
ed. The effects OF intense nervous
fear. following a physical injury Of
an Insignificant nature. are well un-
derstood by the medical profession.
Hence It Is not dificult to understand
cases OF severe nervous pr~ostration,
and even death following n sting or a
bite from a comparatively harmless
insect. The truly poisonous insects.
that Is. insects which possess poison
gland and secrete poison with their
bites or stings, belong In the main to
two classes. Either they sting for
protection. as with the bees. certain
ants and certain wasps. or they use the
poison to assist In the capture OF
their prey, as with the digger wasps,
certain pedaceOus bugs and all spiders.
The mosquito belongs to a third class.
and the purpose OF the poison which
II injects IL not fully understood. In
sect poisons, as a rule, were undoubt-
eddy developed for use against other
insects. Therefore. they are small In
quantity. and. generally speaking. are
serious In their effects only upon other
insects. The exact nature OF the poi
son Is not well understood. In ants,
wasps and bees II contains essentially
OF formic acid. Cases are on record OF
the death Of human beings as a result
of the injection OF poison with the
sting Of bees and wasps. as well n,
with the bites OF spiders. Such cases
however, are rare. A number Of cases
are on record of death from a multi
tude OF bee stings. / know OF a case
we'll authenticated. OF the death OF
middle-aged woman from q single be-
: sting. The physical condition Of tn
patient undoubtedly had much to d,
with the fatal result. Another cas-
! OF similar nature came under the OBJ
~servation Of DR.. William Frew OF Eng
land. In 1896. The patient, a youni
, lady Of %. was stung on the neck
Just behind the angle Of the Jaw, b!
a wasp. the sting of which was ex
tracted by a servant. A solution o
arnica was applied and, IA the patien
felt Ill. she was assisted to bed. Sh,
complained Immediately of a horribl,
feeling Of choking and OF pains In thu
abdomen. The neck swelled rapidly
agonizing. and she died fifteen minutei
after being stung. DR.. Frew saw thu
body about two hours after death. ant
found the neck and lower part of thu
body much swollen. The tongue wal
swollen to such IN extent that 1t filled
the mouth. The young lady was of Z
nervous, excitable temperament, ant
had shown symptoms OF weak actor
Of the heart.
The stings of bees and wasps hav,
very different effects on different PEG
pie, and without doubt persons VIII,
habitually handle bees become i'm
mune to their poisons. Herbert II
Smith. who Is a professional collector
OF insects, catches bees and wasps II
his net and removes them with hi
thumb and forefnger. In his case, tn,
fOrefinger Is stung so often that l
! has become thoroughly inoculated. an,
stings upon this finger produce n,
, effect. but II he Is stung on the bacl
, OF the neck or In some other part O
: the body the sensation Is as painful a
! It Is with another person. Authenti
cases Of death from spider bite ar
rare. although cases reported are O
almost weekly occurrence. have in
vestigated more than a hundred sucl
: reports In the United States In tn
! past ten years. In many cases tn,
> reported facts were entirely er
roneous; in the majority Of cases n,
! spider was seen to infiict the bite
J. there were almost no cases In whicl
!. the spider was seen 10 bite and wa
: saved for examination.