, 1901-10-26
POISON OF INSECTS.
DANGER FROM THIS SOURCE MUCH
OVERESTIMATEO.
Bee Stings May Cause Death, but the
Fatal Cases Are Rare-Formic Acid
in Poison of Ants. Wnsps and
bees.

An interesting article on insect poi
sons is contributed to the New York
Sun by DR.. l.. o. Howard. chief ento-
mologist 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 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 count think that these harm
less insects will sew up their ears.
Much of the COMMON sUpaTst ton
about spider bites is totally u%nsCund-
ed, while the stories about scorpions
and centipedcs are grossly eXaggerat-
ed. The effects of intense nervous
fear, following a physical injury of
an insignificant nature. are well un-
~ olbpt ny llt Iltllltdl pIOltoSlOll.
Hence it is not difficult to understand
cases of severe nervous prOstratiOn,
and even death following a sting or a
bite from IA 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 plDGGpG Fithar thn,r 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.
h mosquito belongs to a third class,
n the purpose of the poison which
1t injects is not fully understood. In
sect p~oisons. 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 it 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 as
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,
well authenticated, of the death of a
middle-aged woman from a single bee
sting. The physical condition Of the
patient undoubtedly had much to do
with the fatal result. Another case
OF similar nature came under the OBJ
s%ervation of DR.. William Frew of Eng
land, in 1886. The patient, a young
lady of %, was stung on the neck,
just behind the angle of the jaw, by
a wasp, the sting of which was ex-
tracted by a servant. A solution of
arnica was applied and. as the patient
felt i'll, she was assisted to bed. She
complained Immediately of a horrible
feeling of choking and of pains in the
abdomen. The neck swelled rapidly,
agonizing, and she died fifteen minutes
after being stung. DR.. Frew saw the
body about two hours after death, and
found the neck and lower part of the
body much swollen. The tongue was
swollen to such an extent that it filled
the mouth. The young lady was of a
nervous, excitable temperament. and
had shown symptoms of weak action
of the heart.
The stings Of bees and wasps have
very different effects on different peo-
pie. and without doubt persons who
habitually handle bees become i'm
mune to their poisons. Herbert H.
Smith, who is a professional collector
of insects, catches bees and wasps in
his net and removes them with his
thumb and forefinger. In his case, the
foretnger is stung so often that it
has become thoroughly inoculated, and
stings upon this finger produce no
effect, but if he is stung on the back
of the neck or in some other part OF
the body the sensation is as painful as
it is with another person. Authentic
cases of death from spider bite are
rare, although cases reported are of
almost weekly occurrence. I have in
reports in the United States in the
| past ten years. In many cases the
! exported facts were entirely err
%eoneous, in the majority of cases no
spiuer was seen to inflict the bite;
there were almost no cases in which
the spider was seen to bite and was
saved for examination.