THE CONQUEST OF DISEASE 



have now perfected a vaccine against the dead- 

 ly snakes of that country, and are using it with 

 remarkable success. 



Scorpion In Egypt the sting of the scorpion causes a 



sting. large number of deaths among children. In 



Assouan, scorpions cause 1.6 per cent, of the 

 total deaths. Wilson, of the Egyptian Gov- 

 ernment School of Medicine, found that ani- 

 mals which live in close relation to the scorpion, 

 such as desert rats and ground hogs, develop a 

 high degree of immunity. He also found that 

 some people who live where scorpions abound 

 become immune, and it is reported by the na- 

 tives that they render themselves immune by 

 repeated small doses of the poison adminis- 

 tered by lightly pricking the skin with scorpion 

 stings. Metchnikoff found that the blood of 

 the scorpion has strong antitoxic power against 

 scorpion venom. Dr. Charles Todd, of the 

 Department of Public Health of the Egyptian 

 Government, has succeeded in making an an- 

 titoxin by immunizing horses against scorpion 

 poison. The serum from the horses, in doses 

 of 2 cubic centimeters, injected into the pa- 

 tient, is capable of neutralizing the poison of 

 a scorpion. It possessed both preventive and 

 curative power, and is now used in Egypt with 



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