74 
SURVIVAL O N LAND AND SEA 
against the skin. If they have taken hold yon may have to dig 
them out. Be sure to sterilize your needle or knife point before 
doing so and paint with iodine afterwards. In Asia, China, and 
the East Indies there are ticks of a different variety that in- 
habit the crevices in the mud walls of native huts and rest- 
houses. These should be avoided, as they carry a form of 
fever. Staying out of native huts is a good way to keep from 
getting them on you. 
There are various kinds of scorpions and centipedes and they 
are common in most tropical countries. Their sting is painful 
but rarely is there any serious consequence if the bite does 
not become infected. Spider bites may cause local pain and 
swelling, yet they rarely have serious results. Wasps and 
bees may be abundant in some places but they seldom attack 
unless their nests are interfered with. In the case of stings, 
mud packs are very helpful in obtaining relief. In some areas 
there are tiny bees, called sweat bees, that may collect on 
exposed parts of the body in enormous numbers during dry 
weather, especially if one is perspiring profusely. They are 
stingless and, until one has stopped sweating, the only thing 
to do is to scrape them off with the hand. Ants are a possible 
source of danger to men lying on the ground, especially if they 
are injured and unable to move. Hence care should be taken 
to place such persons away from ant hills or nests. 
In some localities, particularly in the southeastern Asiatic 
area, certain butterflies collect to gather perspiration from the 
human body in dry weather. They are somewhat annoying, 
but quite harmless. The rice-borer moth in Indo-Chinese coun- 
tries during certain seasons of the year is attracted to lights 
and flres. It is a small, plain-colored moth with a pair of 
