694 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVIII. 



of mind, however, he manages to hook and land one belated diner — a bamin 

 of 7i lb. 



Not the least fascinating part about the fishing is the uncertainty as to what 

 species of fish will take you. If it is a bamin or a nair, you will not usually be 

 in much doubt as to which you have hooked. The former comes at your bait 

 with a swift dart, with something of the rush of a mahseer. The nair, on the 

 other hand, rises slowly, a great gleam of silver, and deliberately mouths the 

 bait before turning down with it. Also at times you may feel a vicious tug, 

 and see a rose-coloured flash, when Lutianns roseus, the red rock perch, chips in 

 among his betters, to honour your basket and increase its weight. But, given any 

 of these fish well hooked, you will find him a foeman well worthy of your steel, 



{From " The Field ", January 4th, 1908.) 



Skene Due. 



No. XXVIII.— SEVERE EFFECTS FROM THE STING OF THE 

 COMMON INDIAN HORNET (VESPA ORIENTAL1S). 



It is not generally known, I believe, that the sting of the common Indian 

 hornet, Vespa orientalis, may give rise to serious symptoms, so, the following 

 may be of some interest. 



Case I. — A sepoy of the 53rd Sikhs was stung in the axilla at about 

 8 p.m. on September 1st. In about a minute he fell down in a semiconscious 

 condition, and was immediately carried to hospital on a charpoy. On arrival 

 he was pale and somewhat cyanosed. He was sweating, the pupils were con- 

 tracted, and the extremities were cold. The respiration was shallow and 

 sighing, and the pulse 130 or 140, feeble and irregular. 



He was treated with strychnine, hot water bottles, &c., and the pulse soon 

 became regular and stronger, but he remained cyanosed, and complained of a 

 tightness in the throat for about H hours, a slight oedema of the eyelids and 

 face developed also. At 10-15 he had a short but severe rigor at the end of 

 which his temperature was 101*4 F. 



Next morning the temperature was normal and except for a little weakness 

 and fatigue the patient was well again. 



Case II. — Three days later another sepoy of the same regiment was stung 

 on the head. He at once started for hospital, but became faint on the way 

 and fell down two or three minutes after he was stung. He was carried to 

 hospital. He also had a feeble and irregular pulse and he complained of a 

 feeling of oppression in the precordium and of constriction in the throat. I 

 first saw him about half an hour later, when he was very blue in the lips, and 

 the respiration was shallow and feeble. The pulse was about 110 and small. 

 There was no oedema. About an hour later he felt a chill which was of 

 short duration, and the temperature rose to 100-6 F. A few hours later he 

 was all right again. 



