The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1913-12-11
STING OF SCORPION. ODD WAYS or LAW
Paat..;S u Nlexico Suffer The Most
From Deadly Pest.
-FOUR Thousand Deaths Yearly Are
Caused by the venomous Animal
Commissions Precede Victims
Final Collapse.

Whatever the limitations placed
upon life expectancy in Mexico in
these restless days the Mexican .scor-
pion still holds the record as official
executioner of the republic. Four
thousand persons are reported to die
each year in Mexico from the stings
of scorpions.
There are several varieties of scor-
pions in Mexico, some of them excede-
ingly venomous and others little
feared. In the neighborhood of Topic
the virulent centuris gracilis abounds,
but it is little known about the more
northern state of Sonora. 1t is one
of the most venomous creatures in the
world.
In the small city of Durango scor-
pions are perhaps more plentiful and
more dangerous than anywhere else
in the republic. Here the climate is
humid and torrid-it is in the TERRA
caliente'-and it is estimated that
more than 10000 scorpions are killed
each year, with no appreciable effect
on their numbers.
A scorpion resembles a diminutive
lobster. Some specimens are eight
inches long, though the average length
is from two to four inches. The claws
closely resemble Holsters; with them
the scorpion brushes it's prey after dis
abling it by means Of sting.
The body of scorpion consists of
several segmented joints, the last i've
or more narrowing down to form the
tail, which curls up forward over the
body and terminates in the sting. This
businesslike appendage is a horny.
sharp spine containing two little open
ings, which connect with the venom
gland within the cell of the last seq
ment. In striking, the scorpion gives
the tail a rapid flashing motion for
ward in advance Of the body and lit
orally administers a hypodertnic injec-
ton of poison, or rather several injec-
tions, for it usually stings repeatedly
when it does strike. III,
In color scorpions vary according to
environment. One ordinarily cOlorless
or translucent will assume brown
or blackish shade in dark surround
ings. Scorpions live In the cracks of
the sun-baked clay, under stones, in
the chinks of the adobe huts and in
the cracks in the plaster of ed frame
houses. They prey upon spiders and
other night marauding insects. A spi-
der stung by scorpion may be OBJ
served undergoing commissions just be-
fore death as animals or human beings
DO.
Unless sleeping cots are we'll
screened and the supports immersed
in cans of kerosene or carbolic acid
water evaporates too rapidly-the
prowling scorpion may find it's way
beneath the bed covers and sting the
restless child. By nature it is noe
6urnal pest. In Mexico every one takes
q peep in the toe of his shoe before
dressing in the morning to assure him
self that no undesirable citizen is hid
ing there.
Contrary to common belief scorpions
never commit suicide by singing
themselves to death-at least not in
Mexico. In fact they seem immune to
their own venom. Two well-matched
specimens will battle to death if con-
fined in jar, singing each other re-
peatedly, yet the victor does not die.
He tears his antagonist into small
pieces with his claws and voraciously
devours every trace of the vanquished
foe. And the capnibal thrives on the
diet.
Some scorpion bites cause little
more than burning pain and numbness
IN the part affected for a few days.
But the more poisonous varieties
cause death, and that speedily, espe-
cially when they sting young children
or debilitated old people. The lower
classes of people suffer more than the
well to do because of their custom
Of going about half naked most of the
time.
In serious cases the local numbness
and pain or burning extend over the
body in a few hours. Then follows
a feeling as of ball in the throat,
the victim clutching his throat as
though choking on a foreign body.
Prompt treatment at this stage will
usually save life.
If not treated the mouth soon be-
gins to froth and the eyes become red
dened and representative to light.
Within an hour or two the breathing
grows shorter and more difficult, the
body turns blue, the pulse fails end
commissions set in. The commissions
recur frequently during several hours,
but complete relaxation usually ushers
in the end.
Fortunately unconsciousness devel-
ops early, so that the victim does not
suffer the fortunes of one dying from
lockjaw. The average time required
for a scorpion sting to cause death
is twelve or fourteen hours. This is
calculated to make some American
rattlesnakes ashamed of themselves