468 WOUNDS. 



that will exclude the air. Mr. Howell of Eochdalo recom- 

 mends a solution of nitrate of silver, five grains to the ounce of 

 water, to be applied continually, or as often as each application 

 dries, for several hours. Opium and stimulants are to be 

 administered, and the bowels acted upon by a purgative. In 

 about four days pus will form. The w^ound has now to be 

 treated like any other suppurating sore. If the burn is slight, 

 and the structure of the part merely inflamed, the white lotion 

 is a good aj)plication. 



POISONED WOUNDS. 



Stinging insects belong almost exclusively to the order hymen- 

 optera, in which the sting, in the sterile females, represents the 

 modified ovipositor, and consists essentially of two exceedingly 

 fine sharp darts, inclosed in a tubular sheath, at the base of which 

 is placed a special venom sac or gland whose contents are in- 

 jected into the puncture by the usually barbed darts. The most 

 familiar examples are the stings of wasps or bees. When large 

 numbers of hymenoptera are disturbed, their attack may induce 

 severe or even fatal consequences. The bites should be treated 

 by dilute ammonia. 



The bites or stings of insects cause a good deal of irritation 

 and pain to animals, but are not of much importance, and seldom 

 come under notice. Sometimes the eyes become inflamed, and 

 the eyelids swollen and painful from this cause. The best pre- 

 ventive is laurel water, applied to the parts twice a week. 



Sjnders and Venomous Insects. — The bites of several spiders 

 (Araneida) are said, by various writers, to be venomous. Amongst 

 these the Tarentula (Lycosa tarentula), abounding in southern 

 Europe, has acquired an extraordinary reputation. Direct ex- 

 periments have, however, proved that its bite is attended with 

 no more ill consequences than a slight local irritation. In the 

 island of Elba another species of spider (Aranea B. guttata) is 

 reputed to be dangerous to men and animals, but these reports 

 are doubted by various writers. Amongst the insects whose 

 bites are more than locally irritating, the tsetse (Glossina 

 morsitans), a dipterous fly abounding in South Africa, and 

 described by Dr. Livingstone in his travels. This fly affords a 

 truly poisonous matter of a septic and diffusive nature, by 



