210 HANDLING BEES. 



of hydrophobia, are another evidence of the eflScieney of 

 inoculation. 



The poison of the bee has a beneficial effect as a cure for 

 rheumatism. Numberless cases have been reported where a 

 few stings have caused the disappearance of this affection. 



Bees as Means of Defense. 



405. "A small corsair, equipped with forty or fifty men, 

 and having on board some bees, purposely taken from a neigh- 

 boring island, and confined in earthen hives ( 275 ), was pur- 

 sued by a Turkish galley. As the latter boarded her, the sailors 

 threw the hives from the masts down into the galley. The 

 earthen hives broke into fragments and the bees dispersed all 

 over the boat. The Turks who had looked on the small corsair 

 with contempt, as an easy prey, did not expect so singular an 

 attack. Finding themselves defenseless against the stings, they 

 were so frightened, that the men of the corsair, who' had pro- 

 vided themselves with masks and gloves, took possession of the 

 galley, almost without resistance. ' ' 



"Amurat, Emperor of Turkey, having besieged Alba, and 

 made a breach in the walls, found the breach defended by bees, 

 whose hives had been brought on the ruins. The Janissaries, 

 the bravest militia of the Ottoman empire, refused to clear the 

 obstacle." — (Delia Eocca, 1790.) 



