782 
STINGS 
weak pulse, and this of course introduces 
an element of danger, if not the danger of 
leaving a permanent legacy of a bad heart. 
Where there is no weak action of the 
heart, that is, the pulse seems to be good, 
but one suffers from a general fever over 
the body with red blotches all over, appli¬ 
cations of cold cloths wrung out of water 
sometimes are sufficient to bring relief. 
Sometimes hot applications are better still, 
and very often it happens that hot and 
cold in alternation prove beneficial. 
HOW ONE WHO IS SERIOUSLY AFFECTED BY 
A SINGLE STING MAY BECOME COM¬ 
PARATIVELY IMMUNE TO THE POISON. 
There are some who are so seriously 
affected by the bee-sting poison that even 
a single sting will cause the body to break 
out in red blotches. Only one person in ten 
thousand is thus affected. So rare are the 
reported cases that the editors of Gleanings 
in Bee Culture, a journal with a circulation 
of over 25,000, do not hear of them once in 
ten years. But th ere are quite a number of 
others who are less affected, but who aver 
that a single sting produces great discom¬ 
fort. While there is no danger of loss of 
life, the results of a sting are such that 
they have been obliged to give up the 
delightful pastime of keeping bees, very 
much to their regret. All such persons were 
formerly advised when going among bees, 
to be veiled and to wear gloves. But ir 
late years a better remedy has been found. 
It was suggested by the fact that the aver¬ 
age person becomes less and less affected 
by the bee-sting poison. Inasmuch as the 
human system has the power to withstand 
increasing doses of many poisons, after the 
first one, why should it not be able to make 
itself immune to a certain extent against 
the virus of a bee-sting? It is a well- 
known fact that opium and morphine 
fiends are able to take doses of those drugs 
in amounts that would kill ten people who 
are not in the habit of taking them. The 
same thing is true of alcohol. It is evident 
if one who is very seriously affected by 
bee-sting poison would just merely prick 
himself with a sting and then brush it off 
before it has had time to throw much of 
its virus into the wound, the after-effects 
would not be very serious; and that if the 
dose were repeated some four or five days 
afterward, or about the time the effect of 
the previous sting had passed away, he 
could, by continuing this process, ultimate¬ 
ly apply the dose at more frequent inter¬ 
vals until in time his system would be no 
more affected than that of an ordinary 
person. 
An interesting case came under observa¬ 
tion. A boy, when stung, became so af¬ 
fected that his body would break out in 
great red blotches; his breathing grew dif¬ 
ficult, and his heart began to pound. It 
was really a question whether there was not 
danger of losing his life. Nevertheless he 
was very desirous of engaging in beekeep¬ 
ing, and determined to work with bees. A 
live bee was pressed on the back of his 
hand until it merely pierced his skin with 
the sting. It was removed immediately; and 
since no serious effect followed another 
sting prick was administered inside of four 
or five days. This was continued for some 
three or four weeks, when the patient be¬ 
gan to have a sort of itching sensation all 
over his body. The hypodermic injections 
of bee-sting poison were then discontinued. 
At the end of a month they were repeated 
at intervals of four or five days. Again 
after two or three weeks the itching sensa¬ 
tion came on, but it was less pronounced. 
The patient was given a rest of about a 
month, when the doses were repeated as 
before. He then went to school and was 
not back for eight or nine months. On his 
return the applications were given again, 
when it was plainly noticeable that the 
after-effects were becoming ‘markedly less. 
He then went out into the bee-yard and 
was stung occasionally, but, beyond a small 
local swelling, there was no unpleasant ef¬ 
fect. 
Some months afterward he was assisting 
at one of the yards, when, without warning, 
a colony of bees that was being handled 
made a most furious attack on both the 
men. The young man who had been tak¬ 
ing the immunizing doses of bee-virus re¬ 
ceived, he estimates, ten or a dozen stings 
all over his body. He had no veil nor 
gloves, for the other man was doing the 
work with the bees. He expected serious 
consequences; but, greatly to his surprise 
and gratification, no unpleasant effects fol¬ 
lowed. What was more, there was no swell¬ 
ing. It should be remembered that this 
