293 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. VIII. 
But amongst creatures of this description it is probable that scorpions qualify 
for first place with respect to the number and enormity of the vices with 
which they have been charged. Those that are most frequently alleged 
against them are general ferocity, murder, cannibalism, infanticide, and 
suicide, And yet, in spite of this serious charge-sheet, there isno doubt that 
they are much-maligned animals. For in defence of the accusation of fero- 
city I can say that I never saw a scorpion use its destructive weapons except 
with the legitimate object of killing prey for purposes of nutrition, or asa 
reasonable means of defence when molested. Naturally enough they will not 
tolerate handling, but when allowed to crawl upon the hand they make no 
attempt to sting it, and merely evince a desire to escape to surroundings more 
natural and congenial than human skin. From the charges of cannibalism 
and murder, however, these animals cannot be so easily cleared. For there is 
an abundance of evidence that they do sometimes, when in captivity, both 
kill and eat each other, Nevertheless, so far as my experience goes, members 
of the same species do for the most part live together in perfect harmony. 
Once only did I see a large Fuscorpius eating a small one. But since the 
latter showed no signs of violence, there are no reasons for supposing that 
it had died other than a natural death. Like many other animals, scorpions 
may be made to fight by artificial means, and when roused to a high pitch of 
excitement by too much heat, they will clutch and grab at each other with 
the appearance of the greatest ferocity. But I never saw any evil result from 
these tussels. The combatants always seemed to prefer to part company 
without bloodshed. 
As for the accusation of infanticide, it appears to be quite groundless. For 
it is well known that a mother-scorpion protects her young by carrying them 
about on her back until they are able to shift for themselves. 
The question as to whether scorpions do or do not commit suicide by sting- 
ing themselves to death, when placed in a circle of fire, or otherwise tortured 
by that element, is one which has excited considerable amount of discussion. 
The belief that they do do so, with the object of escaping from the pains of 
burning, is of long standing, and probably has many adherents at the present 
time. But the experiments of Mr. Bourne upon some Madras species have 
shown (firstly) that the poison has no effect upon the scorpion that possesses 
it, nor yet upona member of the same or of a closely allied species, and 
(secondly) that these animals are easily and quickly killed by a moderately 
warm temperature (50° C.). Moreover, when distressed by a too warm 
atmosphere, or, according to Lankester, by chloroform vapour, these animals 
have a habit of waving their tails in the air and of thrusting the sting for- 
wards over the head, asif to punish some unseen enemy. And if the sun’s 
rays be focussed with a lens upon the back of a scorpion, the animal imme- 
diately brings its tail over,and attempts to remove with it the cause of 
