SCORPIONS 81 



the limb and local swelling: these pass away within an hour or two. 

 Certain scorpions have reduced poison glands and their venom 

 may have no effect whatsoever. Not so with species whose poison 

 is neurotoxic. Here the symptoms resemble poisoning with strych- 

 nine. In the case of the American C. sculpturatus the venom does 

 not produce a swelling or discoloration at the site of the sting. 

 First, a feeling of tightness develops in the throat so that the 

 victim tries to clear his throat of an imaginary phlegm. The 

 tongue develops a feeling of thickness and speech becomes diffi- 

 cult. The victim next becomes restless and there may be slight, 

 involuntary twitching of the muscles. Small children at this stage 

 will not be still: some attempt to climb up the wall or the sides of 

 their cot. A series of sneezing spasms is accompanied by a contin- 

 uous flow of fluid from nose and mouth which may form a copious 

 froth. Occasionally the rate of heart-beat is considerably increased. 

 Convulsions follow, the arms are flailed about and the extremities 

 become quite blue before death occurs. This complex pattern of 

 reactions may last from 45 minutes to 10 or 12 hours. In those 

 adults and children who recover, the effects of the venom persist 

 longest at the original site of the sting, which may be hypersensitive 

 for several days, so that only a slight bump will send painful or 

 tingling sensations throughout the immediate surrounding area. 



The effect of scorpion poison on different animals varies a good 

 deal. Hedgehogs, jerboas and fennec foxes are practically immune, 

 but guinea-pigs and dogs are especially susceptible. Birds are quite 

 sensitive as are frogs and fishes. The poison has a haemolytic 

 action destroying red blood corpuscles and also contains adenosine 

 tri-phosphatase in large quantities. Anti-scorpion serums are pro- 

 duced in various centres including Algeria, Mexico, Brazil, Arizona 

 and London. 



Mating habits 



In scorpions the two sexes are distinct and show slight but 

 visible differences in the relative proportions of the body. The 

 male is more slender and has a longer tail. It also has a pair of 

 organs used in copulation, but visible only when the animal is 

 turned on its back. In addition to the now thoroughly discredited 

 legend of their suicidal tendencies, scorpions appear to arouse 



F S.S.C.M. 



