62 GENERATION OF INSECTS 
from the prick. I observed that in these experiments, 
the scorpion of its own accord having twice stung the 
deer, did not succeed in penetrating the skin of the ani- 
mal; this had to be done with my aid. Therefore I 
doubt whether the Barbary scorpions have the power to 
kill such thick skinned animals as lions, elephants, camels, 
etc., still I must rely on the good faith of the writers, 
who make these assertions, all the more as I must take 
into consideration that the scorpion, with which I made 
all these experiments, was out of his native land, and 
had been more than eight months without food, hence 
was weak and worn out. 
In the case of the deer and the pigeon that were not 
killed, it is possible that the scorpion's supply of poison 
had been exhausted and he had not time to renew it. 
After some more experiments with different animals that 
resulted ineffectually, my sCorpion died, so that I have 
not been able to determine whether a week's rest would 
have enabled him to renew his supply of poison. But 
I hope, nevertheless, to make all this clear with time, 
and also to explain other curious things about these 
strange little animals, so I have sent to Tunis and to 
Tripoli for a supply, and I am sending you a drawing 
of them in natural size. 
To conclude my remarks on scorpions, I must add 
that the account of some of Pliny's followers, i. e., that 
dead scorpions come to life on being moistened with the 
juice of white hellebore, is an old wife's tale. As for 
Avicenna's assertion that a scorpion will fall dead if 
confronted with a crab to which a piece of sweet basil 
has been tied, it is likewise false, and having proved it 
so, I passed on to further experiments. 
I killed half a pound of scorpions and exposed them 
