In about an hour after, the poor animal seemed greatly swoln, and became very sick: he then cast up whatever he had in his bowels; and, for about three hours, continued vomiting a whitish liquid. The belly was always greatly swoln, when the animal began to vomit; but this operation always seemed to abate the swelling; which alternately swelled, and was thus emptied, for three hours successively. The poor animal, after this, fell into convulsions, bit the ground, dragged himself along upon his fore feet, and at last died, five hours after being bitten. He was not partially swoln round the place which was bitten, as is usual after the sting of a wasp or a bee; but his whole body was inflated, and there only appeared a red spot on the places where he had been stung.

Some days after, however, the same experiment was tried upon another dog, and even with more aggravated cruelty; yet the dog seemed no way affected by the wounds, but, howling a little when he received them, continued alert and well after them; and soon after was set at liberty, without showing the smallest symptoms of pain. So far was this poor creature from being terrified at the experiment, that he left his master's house to come to that of the philosopher, where he had received more plentiful entertainment. The same experiment was tried by fresh scorpions, upon seven other dogs, and upon three hens; but not the smallest deadly symptom was seen to ensue. From hence it appears, that many circumstances, which are utterly unknown, must contribute to give efficacy to the scorpion's venom. Whether its food, long fasting, the season, the nature of the vessels it wounds, or its state of

maturity, contribute to, or retard its malignity, is yet to be ascertained by succeeding experiment. In the trials made by our philosopher, he employed scorpions of both sexes, newly caught, and seemingly vigorous and active. The success of this experiment may serve to show, that many of those boasted antidotes which are given for the cure of the scorpion's sting, owe their success rather to accident than their own efficacy. They only happened to cure, when their sting was no way dangerous; but in cases of actual malignity, they might probably be utterly unserviceable.

The scorpion of the tropical climates being much larger than the former, is probably much more venomous. Helbigius, however, who resided for many years in the East, assures us, that he was often stung by the scorpion, and never received any material injury from the wound: a painful tumour generally ensued; but he always cured it, by rubbing the part with a piece of iron or stone, as he had seen the Indians practise before him, until the flesh became insensible. Seba, Moore, and Bosman, however, give a very different account of the scorpion's malignity; and assert that, unless speedily relieved, the wound becomes fatal.

1

It is certain that no animal in the creation seems endued with such an irascible nature. I have often seen them taken and put into a place of security, exerting all their rage against the sides of the glass vessel that contained them. I have seen them attempt to sting a stick, when put near them; and attack a mouse or a frog, while those animals were far from offering any injury. Maupertius put three scorpions and a mouse into the same vessel together,

and they soon stung the little animal in different places. The mouse thus assaulted, stood for some time upon the defensive, and at last killed them all, one after another. He tried this experiment, in order to see whether the mouse, after it had killed, would eat the scorpions; but the little quadruped seemed entirely satisfied with the victory, and even survived the severity of the wounds it had received! Wolkamer tried the courage of the scorpion against the large spider, and enclosed several of both kinds in glass vessels for that purpose.* The success of this combat was very remarkable. The spider at first used all its efforts to immesh the scorpion in its web, which it immediately began spinning; but the scorpion rescued itself from the danger, by stinging its adversary to death: it soon after cut off, with its claws, all the legs of the spider, and then sucked all the internal parts at its leisure.-If the scorpion's skin had not been so hard, Wolkamer is of opinion that the spider would have obtained the victory for he had often seen one of these spiders destroy a; toad.

The fierce spirit of this animal is equally dangerous to its own species; for scorpions are the cruellest enemies to each other. Maupertuis put about a hundred of them together in the same glass; and they had scarcely come into contact, when they began to exert all their rage in mutual destruction: there was nothing to be seen but one universal carnage, without any distinction of age or sex; so that, in a few days, there remained only fourteen, which had killed and devoured all the rest.

* Ephemerides, Dec. 2, 1687. Observ. 224.

But their unnatural malignity is still more appa rent in their cruelty to their offspring. He enclosed a female scorpion, big with young, in a glass vessel, and she was seen to devour them as fast as they were excluded: there was but one only of the number that escaped the general destruction, by taking refuge on the back of its parent; and this soon after revenged the cause of its brethren, by killing the old one in its turn.

Such is the terrible and unrelenting nature of this insect, which neither the bonds of society, nor of nature can reclaim: it is even asserted that, when driven to an extremity, the scorpion will often destroy itself. The following experiment was ineffectually tried by Maupertuis: but I am so well assured of it by many eye-witnesses, who have seen it both in Italy and America, that I have no doubt remaining of its veracity. A scorpion,'newly caught, is placed in the midst of a circle of burning charcoal, and thus an egress prevented on every side: the scorpion, as I am assured, runs for about a minute round the circle, in hopes of escaping, but, finding that impossible, it stings itself on the back of the head, and in this manner the undaunted suicide instantly expires.

It is happy for mankind that these animals are thus destructive to each other; since otherwise they would multiply in so great a degree as to render some countries uninhabitable. The male and female of this insect are very easily distinguishable; the male being smaller and less hairy. The female brings forth her young alive, and perfect in their kind. Redi having brought a quantity of scorpions, selected the females, which by their size and rough

ness were easily distinguishable from the rest, and putting them in separate glass vessels, he kept them for some days without food. In about five days one of them brought forth thirty-eight young ones, well shaped, and of a milk-white colour, which changed every day more and more into a dark rusty hue. Another female, in a different vessel, brought forth twenty-seven of the same colour; and the day fol lowing the young ones seemed all fixed to the back and belly of the female. For near a fortnight all these continued alive and well; but afterwards some of them died daily until, in about a month, they all died, except two.*

Were it worth the trouble, these animals might be kept living as long as curiosity should think proper. Their chief food is worms and insects; and upon a proper supply of these, their lives might be lengthened to their natural extent. How long that may be we are not told; but if we may argue from analogy, it cannot be less than seven or eight years; and, perhaps, in the larger kind, double that duration. As they have somewhat the form of the lobster, so they resemble that animal in casting their shell, or more properly their skin; since it is softer by far than the covering of the lobster, and set with hairs which grow from it in great abundance, particularly at the joinings. The young lie in the womb of the parent, each covered up in its own membrane, to the number of forty or fifty, and united to each other by an oblong

[* All the Scorpion tribe are produced from eggs, of which one female lays a considerable number. After their escape from the egg, they undergo no farther transformation, except occasionally casting their skin like the spider.]