Book IU. land of BARBADOS, 
When a Surinam Scorpion walks or runs, fhe generally curls up her 
Tail in a Ring; and, when provoked, fhe extends it to its full Length ; 
and then with a very quick Motion darts its Sting or Forceps into her 
Adverfary. : 
Perfons who have the Misfortune to be ftung by them, endure very 
acute Pain for feveral Hours; and the Fleth, near the Wound, turns gene- 
rally livid : However, I have known no Inftance here of its proving mortal. 
Upon examining this horny Sting with a good Microfcope, I could not 
perceive either Hole or Fiffure, by which the Poifon might be conveyed 
to the Wound: Yet, upon prefling very hard upon the Sting of an enraged 
Scorpion with the Blade of a Penknife, I plainly perceived a thin bluith 
Liquid to iffue from the Extremity of the Sting, which, upon a greater 
_ Preflure, was followed by a whitith Liquid, of a thicker Confiftency : The 
former I take to be principally the Poifon that it injects into the Wound 
it makes, and the latter to be only the Juices of the Body. 
It is the general Opinion here, as well as elfewhere, that if thefe Scor- 
pions are furrounded, tho’ at a Diftance, with F ire, or any other way greatly 
molefted, they will fting themfelves in the Head, and immediately expire. 
This is attefted by a great many Perfons of undoubted Veracity: Yet, as 
this Opinion contradiés that Principle of Self-prefervation, which appears 
to be fo natural, and fo general, ftrongly influencing the whole Brute 
Creation to preferve their Being, it may be juftly queftioned, whether the 
many Experiments made, in order to eftablith this Opinion, were attended 
to with that Accuracy which the Subje& required. 
As for my own Part, I am apt to believe, that the Heat of the fur- 
rounding Fire hath, at leaft fometimes, a Share in the Deftru@ion 
of thefe Creatures upon fuch Experiments, 
Thefe Scorpions are chiefly to be feen among old Boards, old Books, or 
other loofe Papers. 
They never bear any Young ones but once: The She carries her Young 
upon her Back; and, as thefe grow in Strength, the Parent decays and dies. 
Thefe Scorpions are but {mall in this Part of the World, when com- 
pared with thofe in the Spanifb Weft-Indies. 
An Inftance of the Bignefs of the latter is feen in a very large one, 
now in the Repofitory of the Royal Society ; which is about Eight Inches 
long, and every way propottionable, 
The GreEN Lizarp. 
ems is of the oviparous Kind, laying {mall whitith Eggs, which 
they depofit in loofe dufty Earth, ‘where they are impregnated by 
the Heat of the Sun. oe 
- A full-grown Lizard, in Barbados, is about Ten Inches long; tho’ in 
the Ifland of Antigua they are often above Fourteen, and in Bulk Three 
times as large as ours. 
S The 
65 
