A SCOURGE OF SCORPIONS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XVIII, Issue 12070, 25 October 1913, Page 3 (Supplement)

A SCOURGE OF SCORPIONS.

Whatever the limitations placed upon life expectancy in Mexico in these restless days the Mexican scorpion still fields 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 scorpions in "Mexico, some of them exceedingly venomous and others little feared. In the neighborhood of Tepic the. virulent Centuris gracilis abounds, but it is little known about the more northern State of Sonora. It is one of the mostvenomous creatures in the'world.

In the. small' city of Durango scorpions are perhaps more plentiful and more dangerous than anywhere else in the republic. Here the climate is humid, and ton-id—it is in the "tierra caliente"—and it is estimated that more than 150,000 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 a lobster's; with t'hem the scorpion crushes its prey after disabling it by means of a sting. The body of a scorpion consists of several segmented joints, the last five or more narrowing down to form the tail, ' which curls'up forward over the body and terminates in the sting. This business-like appendage is a horny, sharp spine -containing two little openings which connect with the venom gland within the shell of the last segment. In striking, the scorpion gives the tail a rapid lashing motion forward in advance of the body and literally administers a hypodermic injection of poison, or rather several injections, for it usually stings repeatedly when it does strike.

In color scorpions vary according to environment. One ordinarily colorless or translucent will -assume a brown or blackish shade in dark surroundings. Scorpions live in the cracks of the sun baked clay, under stones, in the chinks of the adobe lints- and in the cracks in the plaster of old-frame houses. Thev prey upon spiders and other night-marauding insects. A snider stung by a. scorpion may be seen undergoing convulsion before death just as animals cr human beings do. Unless sleeping cots are well screened and the supports immersed in cans of kerosene- or carbolic acid—water evaporates too rapidly —the prowling scorpion may find' its'way beneath the- ■ bedcovers and sting the restless child. Bv nature it is a nocturnal pest. In Mexico every one takes a peep in the toe- of 'his'shoe before "-dressing in the' morning .to assure himself that 'no undesirable citizen is hidirfg there. Contrary to common belief scornions never commit suicide by stinging tlieiiiselves to death —at least not in Mexico, j In fact ther seem immune to their own -venom. Two well-matched specimens will battle "to death if: confined jn'"-'.V iar. stinging each other repeatedly, yet the victor does'-not die.' -He 'tears his antagonist .into small- pieces'- with his daws aud. : voraciously -devers- every l trace of the vanquished foe.- And.'the cannibal thrives'on 'the.'.diet. Some' scorpion '-'-"-'bites causes little more than burning' nairi- and. numbness in the part' affected fvr a few days. But the more poisonous:varieties cause death, and that speedily, especially when thev sting young people or debilitated old neople. 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. win serious cases the local numbness and nain or burning extend'oyer the.' ■body"in"a- few hoiirs. Then follows a feeling as of a ball in the-throat, the victinr clutching his throat as though choking on a. foreign body. Prompt treatment, at this stage will usually save life." " , - , If not trpated the mouth- soon liegins to froth and the eye's become reddened and hvoorsensitive in light. Within'an hour 'or two the breathing, grows sho'-ter and more difficult,' the bo'dy turns blue, the pulse fails and convuis;ons *et. in. The'convulsions recur frequentlv during several hours, but complete relaxation usually ushers in the end. ' . . , Fortunately unconsciousness develops early so that th.evicf.im does not suffer the "tortures of one dying from lockjaw. The average time required tor a soorniou sting to cause death is-l.i or - 14' hours'. This is calculated to make, some American, rattlesnakes ashamed of themselves. The treatment of scorpion sting consists of a. free incision of the part to promote copious bleeding, then vigorous massage, toward the bleeding centre for half an hour or more. Stimulants —meaning drugs arid not that pseudo stim'ulant"aleohol—are also necessary. Among the neons there is si delusion that one ma'v acrmirc immunity-' to scorpion stings by regular indulgence m a solution of scorpion meat nr whuskv. ■Thh is on a oar with the Americans fortification ' against rattlesnake bites. The'treatment in either case is so pleasant that stings- are not infrequently feigned bv individuals, with a great thirst but no ready cash. _ _ In villages where- physicians, are wanting the treatment is applied by "praet.icantfs" —ignorant, self-constitu-ted 'healers: and many a peon carries horrible scars from the uracticante s crude surgery. Their reckless use of carbolic acid, iodine, and '.similar, poisons also accounts for many otherwise avoidable fatalities among victims of scorpion stings. . ' ',. - Experiments looking toward t h» production of an anti-venom or-serum tor the. cure, of scorpion stings have-;not as yet met with any practical' success.