ENTOMOLOGY

462 SANITARY ENTOMOLOGYvenom. In the majority of cases when a person is stung by a scorpion,they fail to retain the specimen or to have a scientific identification madeso that the records of actual species causing scorpion sting are verysmall, only twelve species having come to the attention of the writer.The purpose of the scorpion venom is not necessarily as a means ofdefense, but rather as a method by which it kills its prey, which usuallyconsists of small animals. In man the symptoms depend upon the sizeand nature of the scorpion.The small European scorpion, Isometrull europaeus Linnaeus, causesonly pain, redness, and local swelling. Some of the larger tropical scorpionscause intense pain of a burning character radiating from the skin,associated often with violent convulsions, mental disturbances and hallucinations,profuse perspiration, secretion of saliva, and perhaps vomit- •ing. The pulse is weak and quick and the respiration is hurried andshallow. ,These symptoms gradually diminish in three to eight hoursand by about nineteen to twenty hours the person usually is normal.Death may ensue due to collapse or stoppage of respiration which ismore apt to happen in children than in adults. Wilson states that themortality in children under five is 60 per cent for Butkus quinquestriatu8H. & E., a species of Upper Egypt and the Sudan. Fatal poisoning isalso charged against Buthus maurus and other North African scorpions.Cararoz has stated that as many as two hundred persons die annuallyfrom scorpion sting in the neighborhood of ])urango, Mexjco. The specieswhich is responsible for this is Centrurull etclicaude Wood. In additionto the species already mentioned, Buthus martensi Karshi of Manchuria;Butkus occitanus Amour of South Europe and North Africa; Buthus aferLeach, Prionurus citrinus. P. amoureuni Savigny, Androctonus funestusEhrenberg, and Heterometrull maurus, all of South' Africa, have beenrecorded as causing severe poisoning. Kubota found the Durango scorpionmany times more toxic than the lVlanchurian. The common southernspecies in the United States, Butkus carolinianus Beauvois, which rangesfrom the Southern Atlantic States into Texas, north into Kansas, inflictsa very severe sting which hurts for many hours.Castellani and Chalmers recommend as treatment for scorpion stingthe application of a proximal ligature and incision and treatment of thewound with permanganate of potash in the same manner as used forsnake bite. C. V. Riley in 1887 recommended the use of ammonia appliedover the sting, or a small dose of ipecacuanha. Simpson recommendsthe local application of a paste' of ipecacuanha. Colonel Duke recommendsthat 5 to 10 minims of a 5 per cent solution of cocaine be injectedsubcutaneously, close to the sting, for adults, and 1 to 5 minims for infantsand children. Murthy (1919) considers that larger quantities ofa weak solution of cocaine hydrochloridg_ are better than smaller quantities