REMEDY AGAINST POISONOUS BITES. 193 



inferred from the mortal effect it has on 

 small animals, and I have often heard that a 

 sting on the stomach from a large scorpion 

 will kill a pig. Upon man the effect is only 

 sharp pain and the numbness above men- 

 tioned, but the larger the reptile the more 

 serious are the effects, and some constitutions 

 are very susceptible, while others are scarcely 

 at all. I have never felt half the pain from 

 a scorpion I did once from an enormous red 

 forest wasp that stung me exactly on the tip 

 of the nose ; but that sometimes the effect 

 is more serious the following little anecdote 

 will shew. 



I was talking to a friend near the coast 

 one day on the subject of bites from snakes, 

 stings from scorpions, and the nasty slough- 

 ing wounds occasioned by the centipede ; he 

 told me he had an infallible remedy for eveyy 

 bite or sting, except from a few snakes, such 

 as the rattlesnake, coral, or tamagasa. This 

 remedy was a very strong infusion of the 

 root of a small plant called " guaco," and is 

 made by carefully scraping the root very 

 fine, putting a quantity of the scrapings into 

 a bottle of brandy or some other strong 

 spirit, and after submitting it to a very gentle 

 heat, corking it well up ; for the first two or 



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