POISONS AND THEIR PREVENTION 209 



after which individuals thus treated appear to enjoy 

 security from the venom of snake-bites. 



What applies to serpent venom would also 

 appear to hold good in regard to other poisons, 

 such as that contained in the sting of a bee. This 

 poison is extraordinarily tenacious of its irritant 

 properties, and, unlike eel poison, retains its viru- 

 lence even when exposed to high temperatures. 



An interesting memoir on the immunity of the 

 bee-keeper from the effects of bee poison was 

 published a short time ago by Dr. Langer in a 

 German scientific journal. He issued a number 

 of circulars with questions to be answered, and 

 sent these to more than a hundred bee-keepers in 

 different parts of the country, with the result that 

 a hundred and forty-four stated that they were 

 now immune to bee poison, nine having been 

 fortunately endowed with a natural immunity to 

 this irritant, whilst only twenty -six out of the 

 whole number applied to stated that they were 

 still susceptible. 



This condition of immunity to bee poison is 

 obtained after a varying number of stings have 

 been inflicted ; in some cases thirty, at the rate 

 of from three to four a day, are sufficient to ensure 

 freedom from further discomfort, but the inocula- 

 tions may have to be prolonged up to one hundred 

 stings to secure complete immunity, 

 p 



