They are hot-tempered little people, these same hornets, as I have reason to know. Twice I have been punished by them, and both times it was my head they attacked. Once I found them, or they found me, in a cherry-tree; and the second time we met was when I stepped in their nest hidden on the ground. Their sting is like a hot wire pressed into the flesh. When angered they will chase you and swarm around your head, stinging whenever they can; but they may be beaten off if some friendly hand will wield a towel or anything else that comes handy.
If the stings of any of these stinging insects are left in the wounds they should be taken out with a clean needle or clean knife-blade. In any case mix some mud into a paste and plaster it on the parts that have been stung. If you are in camp and have with you a can of antiphlogistine use that instead of the mud; it is at least more sightly and is equally efficient in reducing inflammation.
Various things have been devised as protection against insect torments.
One is a veil of net to be worn over the hat. You will find this described in Chapter IV under the heading of Personal Outfits.
Dopes
Then there are dopes to be rubbed over the face, neck, and hands. The three said to be the best are Nessmuk's Dope, Breck's Dope, and H. P. Wells's Bug-Juice. There is also a Rexall preparation which, I am told, is good while it stays on, but will wash off with perspiration.
Nessmuk's Dope
In giving the recipe for his dope, Nessmuk says that it produces a glaze over the skin and that in preventing insect bites he has never known it to fail. This is the dope:
| Pine tar | 3 oz. |
| Castor oil | 2 oz. |
| Oil of pennyroyal | 1 oz. |
Simmer all together over a slow fire, and bottle.