224 
ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE, 
the house, and their being secreted among the bedclothes, in 
shoes, and other articles of dress. It thus became necessary to 
be constantly on the watch for these troublesome creatures, and 
to take means for their removal and destruction. Having been 
informed by the natives of the place that the scorpion would 
destroy itself if exposed to a sudden light, my informant and 
her friends soon became adepts in catching the scorpions and 
disposing of them in the manner suggested. This consisted in 
confining the animal under an inverted drinking-glass or tumbler, 
below which a card was inserted when the capture was made, and 
then, waiting till dark, suddenly bringing the light of a candle 
near to the glass in which the animal was confined. No 
sooner was this done than the scorpion invariably showed signs 
of great excitement, running round and round the interior of 
the tumbler with reckless velocity for a number of times. This 
state having lasted for a minute or more, the animal suddenly 
became quiet, and turning its tail on the hinder part of its 
body over its back, brought its recurved sting down upon the 
middle of the head, and piercing it forcibly, in a few seconds 
became quite motionless, and in fact quite dead. This observa,- 
tion was repeated very frequently ; in truth, it was adopted as 
the best plan of getting rid of the animals. The young people 
were in the habit of handling the scorpions with impunity im- 
mediately after they were so killed, and of preserving many of 
them as curiosities. 
In this narrative the following circumstances are worthy of 
attention : 
(1) The effect of light in producing the excitement amount- 
ing to despair, which causes the animal to commit self-destruc- 
tion ; 
(2) The suddenness of the operation of the poison, which 
is probably inserted by the puncture of the head into the upper 
cerebral ganglion; and 
(3) The completeness of the fatal symptoms at once in- 
duced. 
I am aware that the phenomena now described have been 
observed by others, and they appear to have been familiarly 
known to the inhabitants of the district in which the animals 
are found. Sufficient confirmation of the facts is also to be 
found in the narratives of 6 Gf. Biddie ? and ‘ M. Ld contained 
in ‘ Nature/ vol. ix., pp. 29-47, and it will be observed that the 
circumstances leading the animal to self-destruction in these in- 
stances were somewhat similar to those narrated by my inform- 
ant, It is abundantly clear, therefore, that the view taken 
