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THE SCORPION.
A Hot-Tempered and Belligerent
Mexican Reptile.
He Will Commit Suicide on the
Slightest Provocation.
“If you should ever happen to go
down into lower Mexico,” said L. T.
Stanley, the electrician, “and should
notice that your bed was set up on in
verted tin pans, as you have seen the
four corners of corn cribs fixed to keep
out the rats, and that the bed had a
sheet stretched above it, running to a
peak at the top like the roof of a house,
don’t say a word but go right in and go
to sleep. If you shouldn’t go to sleep
as soon as you get in, and should hear
something drop on the sheet roof above
you and roll down and tumble on the
floor at the side of the bed, lie still. By
and by you will hear the same drop and
roll and tumble, and it won’t be long
before it’ll be drop, drop, drop, and
roll, roll, roll, and plink, plink, pliuk
on the floor. Don’t get up. If you do
you might think you were struck by
lightning as soon as you put your foot
on tho floor, ^ for the chances
are that you would step
on a scorpion the first thing, and the
scorpion has a stinger that ho carries for
instant and effective use. Scorpions are
just about as plenty there as flies are up
home. They hide by day and attend to
business at night. The scorpion is a
crab with a snake’s tail, with a spur on
the end of it. It likes to get in bed
with folks, and if it wasn’t for the tin
pans on the bedposts it would climb up
and get in with you that way, and if the
bed wasn’t roofed with the sheet it
would drop on you from the ceiling.
When you get up in the morning you
will be apt to find a few quarts of dead
scorpions lying on the floor in front of
the bed. They all committed suicide.
After trying to get into the bed with
you a few times, and being tumbled off
the sheet every time, or stopped by the
tin pans, they got mad, and stuck their
stingers in their heads and killed them
selves. A scorpion will commit suicide
on the slightest provocation. It has a
temper as hot and as quick as kerosene
on a kitchen fire. If one scorpion is
passing by another one and happens to
touch it there’s a fight at once, and two
dead scorpions are the result. Put a
hundred scorpions in an enclosure, and
throw a stick or piece of dirt among
them, and the scorpion that is nearest
to where the stick or dirt falls will turn
A
and dip his spur into his nearest neigh
bor, and in le.s than two seconds the
entire hundred will bo mixed up in the
fight. The way their stingers and
claws and legs will fly is a sight to see.
As long as there is one scorpion alive
the fight goes on, for if one happens to
survive the other ninety-nine lie will
pitch in.and have it out with himself,
and the first thing he knows he is dead.
4? It is a fact that scorpions, or al
carans, as the Mexicans call them, are
at certain seasons of the year as
numerous, almost, as flies. They are
within the cracks of tho walls, between
the bricks of the tiles on the floor, hid
ing inside your garments, darting every
where with inconceivable rapidity, their
tails, which hold the sting, ready to fly
up with dangerous effect upon the
slightest provocation. Turn a corner of
a rug or table spread and you disturb a
flourishing colony of them. Shake you
shoes in the morning and out they flop.
Throw your bath sponge into the water
and half a dozen of them dart out of its
cool depths, into which they had lain
themselves away during the night. It
is not often that you see one of
the mahogany-hued reptiles that
is more than two inches long,
but they sometimes show up with
the formidable proportions of a five-inch
length and all that it implies. There is
a smaller variety than the mahogany
scorpion. This one is yellow, and he is
ten times more vicious and dangerous.
It is at midday that the bite or sting of
these venomous little pests is most feared
as the natives say it is then tho most
poisonous. Tne deserted old mines of
Durango are simply scorpion hives, they
having bred and increased there undis
turbed for centuries. A few years ago
the Government took official notice of
their deadly presence and placed a boun
ty on them which is paid on the presen
tation of a scorpion’s tail and sting at
the office of tho government agent.
Many natives carry a brass tube, and in
cue of a bite from a scorpion it is
SCHLEY COUNTY NEWS.
pressed over the wound, on which
it acts like the bleeding cup
of the surgeon and draws the poisoned
blood out. A hollow key has been used
successfully in the same way. Victims
of the yellow scorpion’s bite have been
known to lie for days in convulsions,
foaming at the mouth, and with stom
ach and limbs swollen as in dropsy.
Others suffer no worse consequences than
they might from an ordinary bee sting.
Brandy taken until stupefaction follows
is a favorite remedy for scorpion bites
in Mexico, and ammonia is also given
with good results. There is nothing
the Mexican or Texan fears more than
the yellow or black scorpion of Duran
go except the bloating rattlesnake of the
(Staked Plains, and that is probably the
most deadly reptile of the American
continent.
Anniroals That Sleep all Summer.
The winter sleepers are all pretty well
known. But owing to the aestivators
being, for the most part, inhabitants of
tropical countries far removed from the
path of trained observers, we are les?
acquainted with the species practicing
that means of shunning the heat and
drought of summer. Indeed, at pres
ent only one mammal is known which
does so. This is the tenrec, a hedge
hog-like beast of Madagascar, which re
tires to its burrow and sleeps during the
three hottest months of tho year—these
months, it must be remembered, corre
sponding to the northern winter. How
ever, it is believed that a West African
dormouse is a summer sleeper, though
this species, when brought to England,
hibernates, like its northern cousin.
No doubt, also, some of the sub-Antar
tic mammals sleep during the coldest
portion of winter, though as yet the
tuco-tuco of Patagonia and a gray rat
native to the Kermedec Islands are about
the only two species of which this can
be affirmed with certainty.
In not a few respects, tho suspended
animation of these creatures during the
intense heat of summer is even more re
markable than that which obtains when
frost dulls every function of life. Some
m croscopical animals—the wheel ani
malcuteB for example—can be dried up
into a dust-like substance, and yet re
vive as soon as they get access to water,
the germ on wffiich their vitality de
pends being evidently protected in some
manner, not yet clearly understood. In
South America and Africa various rep
tiles aestivate, if not in the manner de
scribed, at least so perfectly that their
summer somnolence is quite compa-able
with the winter sleep of the northern
forms. In the llanos or plains of Ve
nezuela, the alligator, the land and
fresh water tortoise, tho huge boa con
trictor, and sc veral of the sma'ler kind
of serpents lie motionless in the indu
rated mud during the hottest period of
tho summer. But their dor-
mancy is by no means so perfect as that
of some hibernators. A marmot or a
hedgehog when in the depth of its win
ter torpidity, may be kicked about like
a ball, and yet, except for a few feeble
respirations, exhibit scarcely any sign
tliat it is conscious of being despitofully
used.
In Brazil, Australia and the Cape
Colony, lizards, frogs, tortoises and in
sects pass months of the rainless season
enclosed in hard earth, and in India,
many species of fishes, during the dry
season and long-coutinued droughts, live
in a torpid condition, embedded in the
indurated clay. Dr. Day has, indeed,
put on record instances in which fishes
have survived in this condition for more
than one season, ponds known to have
been dry for several months having
swarmed with scaly inhabitants as soon
as the accumulation of water released
them from their hardened beds .—New
York Sun.
Housetops as Summer Resorts.
In a paper entitled * Wasted Sun
beams, ” some me asks why the all-year
residents of our large cities do not take
a hint from an Oriental custom and
transform their housetops into summer
resorts. Roofing suitable to our climate
can be made as enduring as pavement.
Flowers and shrub? would make a house
top a summer garden, and awnings
would afford shelter from the direct
rays of the sun or from showers.
Rapid Roads to Riches.
In the United States the most rapid
transit to wealth is by the route of soap
and patent medicines; in Germany by
improved firearms; in France by new
varieties of popular confectionery. In
Pari? alone half a dozen parvenus owo
their fortune to the in vention of novel
sorts of pastry and coffcc-rolis.
FOR FARM AND GARDEN.
CURE FOR POTATO ROT.
The following formula is the best
known preventative of potato rot, ac
cording to Professor Peck, State Botan
ist of New York: Dissolve four pounds
of sulphate of copper in sixteen gallons
of water; in another vessel slack four
pounds of lime in six gallons of water.
When the latter solution is cool pour it
into the copper solution, stir thorough
ly, apply to the potato plants when in
bloom by means of a spraying apparatus,
so as to moisten thoroughly, but not
irench them.
CUTTING AND CURING CLOVER.
Clover hay should also be cut early,
or when the last seta are in blossom and
the first ones a little turned. As to the
best mode fpr curing clover hay, an ex
perienced farmer says there are two ex
tremes to be avoided, viz. —drying rap
idly and too longin the sun, and at.
tempting to cure wholly in the shade.
It should be cut while dry and free
from the dew and exposed to tho sun
long enough to dry it partly. Then
place it in small cocks, where some ad
ditional drying will take place, and it
becomes fit for the barn or slack. Some
experience and judgment are required
to know just how dry it must be to keep
without heating or molding. If made
too dry it loses part of its value. The
relative amount of drying in the sun
and in shade will vary with weather,
ripeness and other influences; but as an
average about tw r o-thirds of the drying
should be performed in the sun and one
third in the shade, although practical
men differ on thi3 point .—New York
Observer.
SUNLIGHT AND TREES.
The latest report of the United States
Forestry Department gives some inter
esting particulars as to the influence o.
light on trees. Light is necessary for
the development of the chlorophyll, or
green coloring matter, and for the life
of all green plants, especially trees.
Trees nearly always develop best in the
full enjoyment of light, but their
capacity for growing in shade varies
considerably, Yew will thrive in the
densest shade, whereas a few years of
overtopping will kill larch. The beech
will grow in partial shade where the
oak would languish and the birch die.
When planted in moist places all species
are less sensitive to the withdrawal of
light. In the open maples, elms and
sycamores grow well and make a good
shade, while in a dense forest they thin
out and show a scanty foliage,
Conifers, such as spruces and firs,
have the greatest capacity for growing
in the shade, and preserve their foliage
in spite of the withdrawal of light. It
has been found that those leaves which
develop under the full influence of sun
light are larger and tougher, besides
having a larger number of stomata, or
breathing pores, than those less exposed
to light. Experiments are to be carried
out on this subject in the United States.
We may also mention here a novel way
of studying timber, which has been in
troduced by Mr. R. B. Hough of Low
ville, N. Y. He employs frames of
cardboard containing three thin slices of
wood, each two inches wide by five
inches long and from one-eightieth to
one two-hundredth inch thick. These
show the wgpd along the grain, across
it to the heart and tangentially. The
effect of light'j|oniing show^ibe through the thin
Blip is to structure and quality
of the timber, even better than if one
were looking at a mass of it. — Cassell's
Magazine.
SO-CALLED BUTTER AROMA.
There seems to be a great deal of mis
understanding in regard to matters per
taining to dairy work, even among
experts, and these misunderstandings
produce confusion and uncertainty
among the practical dairymon who look
to these experts as guides and counsel
ors. One of the leading Western dairy
writers, in an article recently published,
gives as a reason why butter should be
packed as soon as possible that other
wise “the aroma will escape.” This
shows an entire ignorance of the nature
of the flavor and odor—tho so-called
aroma—of butter. This is not a volatile
essence of vapor which escapes from
butter in its freshest state, as is the
case with the volatile oils of spices and
aromatic herbs or woods. The aroma
of these fragrant substances is a part of
them which is tho most powerful in
their freshest state, and gradually de
creases with time and exposure until it
is lost altogether. On the contrary, the
aroma of butter is developed by time,
and gradually increases by an interna
change and decomposition by which the
volatile acids—chiefly butyric acid—are
produced. And as this acid rapidly be
comes too pungent to be pleasant, it is
necessary to protect the butter from
change by immediate packing and se
clusion from the atmosphere.
TOMATOES BY TUB ACRE.
Tomatoes yield the best crops in heavy
loam that will not pack or bake, The
plants, except for early planting, can
be raised better out-of-doors, in garden
beds. The ground should have a dress
ing broadcast of 800 bushels to the aero
of good, well-rotted barn-yard or hog
pen manure, well and thoroughly
ploughed in and harrowed down. When
the season is well settled, harrow the
ground and furrow out five feet each
way and put in plenty of fine, well-rot
ted manure at the crossing of the fur
rows, using about 800 bushels to the
acre in the hills. Tread down well and
cover with soil about three inches deep.
Set the plants well down in the ground,
pressing the soil well up to them. It is
best to wet the roots when setting, a?
the soil adheres better. Keep the ground
clean and loose with the cultivator and
the hoe drawing the soil or hilling them
at each dressing.
Tomatoes are marketed by packing in
crates holding a strick or Winchester
bushel, made of two ends and one mid
dle piece, each three-quarters of an inch
thick, eight inches wide and fourteen
inches long; with slats nailed on three
inches wide, twenty-two inches long,
and three-quarters of an inch thick.
Good heavy masons’ lath will answer for
slats, leaving a space of one inch for
vcntillation between them. For a long
distance from market they should be
picked just as they begin to show a red
tinge at the blossom end; but for near
by they must be riper or so they will be
well ripened when they arrive in market.
Care should be taken not to pack any
cracked or wormy ones, as they spoil the
rest and injure the sale of the whole.
For Philadelphia market they are usu.
ally shipped in five-eighths stave peach
baskets, covered with cloth, which are
returned to the shipper .—American
Agriculturist.
FARM A_ND GARDEN NOTES.
Raise plenty of roots this season.
“Haste makes waste” in securing
crops.
Guard fowls against hawks, owls,
ra‘s, etc.
Keep a sharp lookout for vermin on
the young chicks at this season.
It is much better to plant a seasonable
crop than to plant what we have planned
to plant out of season.
A practical w*ay of destroying the cur
rant borer, is to cut off the infected
wood in the Spring and burn it.
An experienced foreign horticulturist
claims that canker in fruit trees always
arises from defective nourishment.
Every farmer ought to plant a small
acreage of millet for the variety it
affords in the winter feeding of stock.
If the weather is dry keep the culti
vator going in the corn. Weeds will
draw moisture that ought to go to the
corn.
Don’t cultivate too deep; the time is
past when “root pruning” is considered
the best way to help corn make a good
crop.
But few farmers have their ground in
proper order to plant corn. Many of
them wonder why they have a “poor
stand.” How was yours put in?
Millet will be mature enough for hay
in about ninety days after sowing, so
that the soil it occupies can be seeded
to winter wheat or rye in the fall.
The cherry and pear slug can bo de
stroyed by the exterminator or by pyre
thrum powder, an ounce to throe gal
lons of water, applied with a force
pump.
Brine salting is strongly advocated by
Mr. Nuttall, a noted English maker of
butter. He claims that grinding dry
salt into butter and leaving it to dis
solve is a direct injury.
A California fruit-grower is quoted as
authority for the statement that the to
mato, in proximity to fruit trees or
other plants affected with insects, will
overcome the pest.
Creameries are only valuable to tho
dairymen whom they servo when they
bring to the business the highest excel
lence of dairy knowledge, order and
cleanliness found in tho best
dairies.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
Men are usually one-twelfth larger
than women.
Steam fire engines operated by elec
tricity are suggested.
A novel use of electricity is about to
be tested in sharpening the shoes of car
horses in icy weather.
The piercings of the new Cabres tun.
nel met with remarkable precision, the
length being 12, 350 feet.
Bronze cents are most numerous and
arc made of an alloy of copper and tin,
but those of earlier date contain a small
proportion of nickel, which gives them
a whiter, silvery color.
It has been determined that the
North sea contains two distinct kinds of
sea water. The re'ation between chlo
rine and density is not in either case due
to river water flowing into the sea.
From calculations made by the coal
department of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company it is found that the weight
per cubic foot of coal varies according
to the size to which it is broken.
Dr. William A. Hammond says that
some maniacs retain possession of their
reasoning powers, and that it is a com
mon thing to find a reasoning maniac
setting himself up as a reformer. Nine
times out of ten a reformer is a crank.
M. Lombard supports the theory ad
vanced by Signor Sporta that vegetable
forms which now cover our continents
have spread slowly and continuously
from north to south, recent species forc
ing back or obliterating those of more
ancient origin.
M. Beauregard, an eminent Egyptolo
list, believes that Egypt at the time of
the Pharaohs exhibited the mixed con
dition of combining the use of flint
implements with acquaintance with the
means of extracting copper and blend
ing it with other metals.
The evil effects of an atmosphere sur
charged with dust in factories have
been attracting so much attention in
England that the factory acts are about
to be amended, and a bill is to be
brought before the House of Commons
compassing an effectual means of pre
venting injury from the inhalation ol
dust.
Professor E. Wollny, of Munich,
Germany, has experimented on the
effect of electric currents of different in
tensities and characters on the growth
of plants. Specimens of grain, pota
toes, carrots, –c., were planted and
subjected to the action of electric cur
rents until they reached maturity. Com
pared with plants grown under ordinary
circumstances, the result showed that
the electric current exerted no influ
ence.
In M. Berthelot’s paper, read before
tho Paris Academy of Sciences, he
speaks of a statuette and a portion of
the sceptre of the Egyptian King Pepi
I., both dating 4000 B. C. Portions
were analyzed and found to be pure
copper. From this he argues that, as
in the New World, the stone age was
followed by the copper in the Eastern
Hemisphere and that the bronze period
cannot be more than fifty or sixty centu
ries old.
The Vienna News says: “The practi
cal stamping out of small pox in Ger
many, according to Dr. Hervieux of the
Paris academy of medicine, has only
been accomplished through re-vaccina
tion. Vaccination lessens the frequency
and severity of epidemics, and re-vacci
nation tends to make them disappear
completely. Re-vaccination should be
practiced every ten years, and should be
performed at ouce when an epidemic is
threatened, even though but a short
time has elapsed since the last opera
tion. Human or heifer vaccine may be
used.’’
An Accomplished Millionaire.
Ecklcy Brinnto Coxe, of Philadel
phia, is the most accomplished million
aire in America. lie climbs to the top
of his highest breakers and descends to
the lowest depths of his numerous mines.
He is a graduate of half a dozen col
leges aud universities and converses fre
quently in English, German French and
Italian. His fad is bibliomania, aud he
possesses the most valuable collection of
Aldinos and Elzevirs in the country,
next to that of Sam Barlow of New
York. A monograph on Gerome’s
painting, “Police Verse,” privately
printed by him, attracted attention
among the archaeological and art etu
dents. One term in the Pennsylvania
State Senate satisfied his political yearn
ings.— New Of hums Fkagune. - ~ .