THE WHIP SCORPION. 



69 



more slender than the others. Though greatly feared 



by most persons, it is not poisonous. The forceps 



with which I captured 



the specimen at hand 



are strongly impreg- 



nated with the odor of 



acetic acid, one of the 



constituents of vinegar. 



This comes from a fluid 



which the animal, when 



alarmed, excretes as a 



means of defense, hence 



the common names, 



vinaigrier and vinege- 



rone. In habits the 



whip scorpion is noc- 



turnal, hiding by day 



beneath rubbish and 



feeding at night upon 



insects and other of the 



lower forms of .animal 



life. It occurs only in 



tropical and Semi-trOpi- 



cal regions another 



specimen in my collection having been taken in 



southwestern Texas. 



The true scorpions which I found about Ormond 

 are all of small size and of one species, Centrums 

 Jientzi Banks. They belong to the Scorpionida, a 

 group coordinate with the Pedipalpi above noticed, 



Fig. M-WMP Scorpion. 



(About three-fourtHs natural ilze.) 



