SCORPION OR CENTIPEDE STING.
First Aid Rule.—Squeeze lemon juice on wound.
SPIDER OR TARANTULA BITE.
First Aid Rule.—Pour water of ammonia on bite. If patient is depressed, give strong coffee.
SCORPIONS AND CENTIPEDES.—These both inhabit the tropics and semitropical regions, and lurk in dark corners and out-of-the-way places, crawling into the boots and clothing during the night. Scorpions sting with their tails, which are brought over the head and back for the purpose, while holding on to the victim with their lobsterlike claws. The poisonous centipede has a flattened brownish-yellow body, with a single pair of short legs for each body segment, and long, many-jointed antennæ.
The wounds made by either of these pests are rarely dangerous, except in young children and those in feeble health. The stings are usually relieved by bathing with a two per cent solution of carbolic acid, with rum, or with lemon juice.
SPIDERS.—Many of the tropical spiders bite the human being. Trapdoor spiders are among the commonest of these pests. Their bodies grow to great size, two to two and a half inches long, and are covered with hair giving them a horrid appearance. They live in holes bored in the ground, and provided with a trapdoor contrivance which is closed when the insect is at home.
The trapdoor spider resembles the tarantula, by which name it is usually known in Cuba and Jamaica, but is somewhat smaller and commoner. Neither the stings of the trapdoor spider nor true tarantula are usually dangerous although the wounds caused by the bites may heal slowly.
Application of water of ammonia and of the other remedies recommended for mosquito bites (p. [158]) are indicated here, and if the patient is generally depressed by the poison, strong coffee forms a good antidote.