The Stinging Power 



be. Hairy as in the normal state and per- 

 fectly dried, the skins of both lots, drained 

 by the ether, produce not the slightest effect, 

 although I rub myself with them, without the 

 least caution, at the juncture of the fingers, a 

 spot very sensitive to stinging. 



The hairs are the same as before the action 

 of the solvent : they have lost none of their 

 barbs, of their javelin-points; and yet they are 

 ineffectual. They produce no pain or incon- 

 venience whatever. Deprived of their toxic 

 smearing, these thousands of darts become so 

 much harmless velvet. The Hedgehog Cater- 

 pillar and the Brush Caterpillar are not more 

 inoffensive. 



The second test is more positive and so 

 conclusive in its painful effects that one hardly 

 likes to try it a second time. When the 

 ethereal infusion is reduced by spontaneous 

 evaporation to a few drops, I soak in it a slip 

 of blotting-paper folded in four, so as to form 

 a square measuring something over an inch. 

 Too unsuspecting of my product, I do things 

 on a lavish scale, both as regards the super- 

 ficial area of my poor epidermis and the 

 quantity of the virus. To any one who might 

 wish to renew the investigation I should re- 

 141 



