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it cannot get away. Then it does lash out as if the venom 

 in its tail came straight from the heart, and it is worth a 

 fortune to know that a drop of strong ammonia let into the 

 wound is an almost instant cure. I make out three kinds 

 of scorpions, the feeble and rather scarce Bombay species, 

 the sturdy house scorpion of the Deccan, and the hairy 

 black monster found under stones, especially on the hills. 

 They all live on insects, and possibly lizards and other 

 small animals, which they catch with their claws and sting 

 to death. The scorpion is a superfluous enormity which 

 cannot justify its own existence. When found it should be 

 executed at once, as a punishment, not for anything it can 

 be proved to have done, but for what it is. This establishes 

 a great principle. 



Next come centipedes, which are of many kinds. The 

 prince of them is a somewhat horrid object, banded with 

 black and yellow. Natives say it does not bite, but that, 

 if it runs over you, every footprint becomes a sore, a point 

 which any one can settle for himself by experiment. It is 

 not generally known that this creature makes a most enter- 

 taining pet. I had one which measured 6% inches, and 

 would doubtless have grown to double that in time, for he 

 had a healthy appetite. He would kill and devour an 



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