REMEDIES FOR THE STING OP A BEE. 209 



adult, less for a child,— in hot tea, with beneficial results. It 

 causes an increased perspiration and neutralizes the effects of 

 the poison. ("Commentaires Therapeutiques," Gubler, Paris, 

 1874.) 



404. It may be some comfort to novices to know that 

 the poison will produce less and less effect upon their sys- 

 tem. Old bee-keepers like Mithridates, appear alm.ost to 

 thrive upon poison itself. When we first became interested 

 in bees, a sting was quite a formidable thing, the pain being 

 often very intense, and the wound swelling so as sometimes to 

 obstruct our sight. At present, the pain is usually slight, and, 

 if the stiug is quickly extracted, no unpleasant consequences 

 ensue, even if no remedies are used. Huish speaks of seeing 

 the bald head of Bonner, a celebrated practical Apiarist, cov- 

 ered with stings, which seemed to produce upon him no un- 

 pleasant effects. The Rev. Mr. Kleine advises beginners to 

 allow themselves to be stung frequently, assuring them that, 

 in two seasons, their system will become accustomed to the 

 poison ! ^ 



An old English Apiarist advises a person who has been 

 stmig, to catch another bee as speedily as possible, and make 

 it sting on the same spot. Even an enthusiastic disciple of 

 Iluber might hesitate to venture on such a singular homoeo- 

 pathic remedy; bvit, as this Apiarist had stated, what we had 

 verified in our own experience, that the oftener a person is 

 stung the less he suffers from the venom, the writer determined 

 to make trial of his prescription. Allowing a string to re- 

 main until it had discharged all of its poison, he compelled 

 another bee to insert its sting, as nearly as possible, in the 

 same spot. He used no remedies of any kind, and had the 

 satisfaction, in his zeal for new discoveries, of suffering 

 more from the pain and swelling than for years before. 



That the bee-keeper becomes inoculated with the poison 

 of the bee, and usually becomes proof against it, is no more 

 to be doubted than the fact that vaccination is a preservative 

 against small-pox. The discoveries of Pasteur, for the cure 



