26 
Poisonous Arthropods 
15. Mandible of 
Scolopendra 
cingulata 
showing 
venom 
gland. After 
Dubosq. 
glands are at the base of the first pair of legs (fig. 15), which are 
bent forward so as to be used in holding their prey. The legs 
terminate in a powerful claw, at the tip of which is the 
outlet of the poison glands. 
The poison is a limpid, homogeneous, slightly acid 
fluid, which precipitates in distilled water. Briot (1904) 
extracted it from the glands of Scolopendra morsitans , a 
species common in central France, and found that it was 
actively venomous for the ordinary experimental ani¬ 
mals. A rabbit of two kilograms weight received an 
injection of three cubic centimeters in the vein of the ear 
and died in a minute. A white rat, weighing forty-eight 
grams, received one and a half cubic centimeters in the 
hind leg. There was an almost immediate paralysis of 
the leg and marked necrosis of the tissues. 
As for the effect on man, there is little foundation for the fear 
with which centipedes are regarded. Our native species produce, 
at most, local symptoms,—sometimes severe local pain and swell¬ 
ing,-—but there is no authentic record of fatal results. In the tropics, 
some of the species attain a large size, Scolopendra gigantea reaching 
a length of nearly a foot. These forms are justly feared, and there 
is good evidence that death sometimes, though rarely, results from 
their bite. 
One of the most careful accounts of death from the sting of the 
scorpion is that of Linnell, (1914), which relates to a comparatively 
small Malayan species, unfortunately undetermined. The patient, 
a coolie, aged twenty, was admitted to a hospital after having been 
stung two days previously on the left heel. For cure, the other 
coolies had made him eat the head of the scorpion. On admission, 
the patient complained of “things creeping all over the body”. 
Temp. 102.8°. On the fourth day he had paralysis of the legs, and 
on the fifth day motor paralysis to the umbilicus, sensation being 
unaltered. On the sixth day there was retention of the urine and 
on the ninth day (first test after third day) sugar was present. On 
the thirteenth day the patient became comatose, but could be 
roused to eat and drink. The temperature on the following day fell 
below 95° and the patient was still comatose. Death fifteenth day. 
Examination of the spinal (lumbar) cord showed acute dissemi¬ 
nated myelitis. In one part there was an acute destruction of the 
anterior horn and an infiltration of round cells. In another portion 
