222 VENOMOUS ANIMALS: PROTOZOA TO ARTHROPODA 



Prognosis.- — ^Usually the prognosis is very good ; the only dangers 

 are in children and old feeble persons, and in multiple stings. 



Treatment.- — ^The usual treatment is by applications of weak 

 solutions of ammonia, which answers well. Carbolic acid (i in 20 

 or I in 10) is satisfactory if applied immediately after the sting. 

 Potassium permanganate may be tried. 



Calmette advises a solution of calcium hypochlorate (i in 60) 

 or eau de JaveJ (i in 100). When there is much swelling, apply 

 iced compresses or an ice-bag. When general symptoms develop, 

 strychnine injections may be used. 



FORMICID^. 



Ants may appear rather insignihcant in the Temperate Zone, but 

 in the tropics they are most active, and their bites are very painful. 



Many ants- — e.g., Myrmica 3.nd Ponera — have a poison apparatus 

 analogous to that of the bees, which has just been described. 



The Venom.^ — The venom is well known to contain formic acid, 

 but there must be more than this in the venoms of the tropical 

 species, though nothing is known on the subject. 



The Effects of the Venom. — The symptoms are usually only local 

 ■ — that is to say, pain, inflammation, and swelling at the site of the 

 bite- — but in the case of the large tropical ants general symptoms 

 of faintness, shivering, and temporary paralysis may be produced. 

 Indeed, dried red ants made into a paste have already been noted 

 as an arrow-poison (Chapter XL, p. 180). 



In Ceylon there is a species of very small ants which infest the 

 beds and bite people while asleep, producing urticarial pomphi. 



Treatment- — Apply weak solutions of ammonia, carbolic solution 

 (i in 20), or camphorated alcohol, to the part. As a preventive 

 measure against the ants infecting beds, spread some powdered 

 camphor in the beds and sheets. 



4. Lepidoptera. 



Caterpillars of many butterflies are well known to be venomous 

 in the tropics, causing marked skin eruptions, and even a feeling of 

 illness associated with a slight rise of temperature. 



Wellman reports that in Angola the most common stinging cater- 

 pillar is that of the tiger-moth (Archidae), called locally ' ochipia ' 

 —that which burns— which produces an angry eruption associated 

 with much pain. Another belonging to the Limacodidse, called 

 ' Epuvi,' he describes as causing urticaria. A third, belonging to 

 the Liparidse, also causes severe local, and at times reflex nervous 

 symptoms. We are acquainted with stinging caterpillars in Ceylon 

 and the Gold Coast, but we have not determined the species. In 

 the former, a bombyx larva living on the Hibiscus plant is apt to 

 cause skin irritation. In India, the ' komlah ' of the Terai is liable 

 to cause intense irritation if it touches the skin. According to 

 Brooke, the larvae of Neoera lepida and Adolia are known to be 



