214 Of th e Sting of a Scorpion. 
Sting* i which convinced him that ./Elian 
fays true, where he afferts, that the Perfo¬ 
ration in a Scorpion s Sting is frjiall beyond 
the Poffibility of being feen. And fuch a 
Drop he frequently faw afterwards, in the 
Progrefs of his Experiments, on the Stings 
of feverai Scorpions , at the Time of their 
Striking : which Drop entering the Wound, 
produced the moil fatal Effects q*. 
' - / 
What a virulent and furprizing Poifon 
muft this be! that in fo very minute a Quan¬ 
tity can contaminate the whole Mafs of the 
Fluids, and bring on fudden Death, not only 
in Man, and other fmaller Creatures, but 
even in Lions, Camels, and Elephants, as 
we are allured it will! How fubtle, how 
penetrating, how divifible, muft the compo¬ 
nent Particles of this little Speck of Venom 
be ! and how ftrong a Proof it affords, that 
the greateh Changes imaginable may be 
wrought in the human Body, by the Ad¬ 
mixture of different Liquors with the Blood 
even in the fmalleft Quantities ! 
* Vid. Redx de Gener. InfeSi.-. p. 127. 
f Mr. Leeuwenhoek difcovered an Opening on each 
Side of the Sting for the Emiffion of this Poifon ; which he 
fuppofes is not difcharged till the Sting is buried in the 
Wound. ‘Vid. Arc. Nat. Tom. II.' p. 167. 
CHAP. 
1 
