86 
HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 
dropped three or four times, from a height of about ten 
inches, upon the back of the first joint of the thumb. The 
sensation did not differ materially in kind from the sting of 
the nettle, but was more acute. In a few minutes the sur¬ 
face became reddened, and in a short time numerous slightly 
elevated whitish blotches made their appearance, accompa¬ 
nied with a burning and itching. The following day the 
thumb’could not be bent without experiencing a sensible 
Fig. 66. 
degree of pain, which was materially increased by an attempt 
to bring the joint to a right angle. This stiffness of the 
joint continued for four days. When the blotches subsided, 
small purplish spots of coagulated blood appeared in their 
place, which by degrees became more circumscribed, until 
after the lapse of a few days, when they presented an appear¬ 
ance similar to that of grains of gunpowder burned beneath 
22 
