330 CURIOUS CREATURES. 



his far more prudent friend, who makes the experiment 

 on the vile body of his horse, and thus saves his own 

 blood ; but he gives us no account of its habits and 

 customs. 



THE SCORPION. 



Of the Scorpion, Pliny says : " This animal is a dan- 

 gerous scourge, and has a venom like that of the serpent ; 

 with the exception that its effects are far more painful, 

 as the person who is stung will linger for three days 

 before death ensues. The sting is invariably fatal to 

 virgins, and nearly always so to matrons. It is so to 

 men also, in the morning, when the animal has issued 

 from its hole in a fasting state, and has not yet happened 

 to discharge its poison by an accidental stroke. The 

 tail is always ready to strike, and ceases not for an 

 instant to menace, so that no opportunity may possibly 

 be lost. . . . 



" In Scythia, the Scorpion is able to kill even the 

 swine, with its sting, an animal which, in general, is 

 proof against poisons of this kind in a remarkable degree. 

 When stung, those swine which are black, die more 

 speedily than others, and more particularly if they 

 happen to throw themselves into the water. When a 

 person has been stung, it is generally supposed that 

 he may be cured by drinking the ashes of the Scorpion 

 mixed with wine. It is the belief also that nothing is 

 more baneful to the Scorpion than to dip it in oil. . . . 

 Some writers, too, are of opinion that the Scorpion 

 devours its offspring, and that the one among the young 

 which is most adroit avails itself of its sole mode of 

 escape, by placing itself on the back of the mother, 

 and thus finding a place where it is in safety from 



