The bag of poison hangs at the root of the sting, through the cavity of which, as through a pipe, the Bee ejects some drops of this venomous liquor into the wound made by the sting, and so renders the pain more excessive. The mechanism of the sting is admirable, being composed of two darts, inclosed within a sheath that tapers into a fine point, near which is an opening to let out the poison; the two darts are ejected through another aperture, which being armed with several sharp beards, like those of fish-hooks, are not easily drawn back again by the Bee; and indeed she never disengages them if the wounded party happens to start and put her in confusion; but if, when stung, one can have patience to continue calm and unmoved, the stinging Bee clinches those lateral points round the shaft of the dart, by which means she recovers her weapon, and gives less pain to the person stung. FOR THE STING OF A BEE. The poisonous liquor which the stinging Bee infuses into the wound causes a fermentation, attended with a swelling, which continues sometimes several days; but that may be prevented by immediately pulling out the sting, and enlarging the puncture, to let the venomous matter have room to escape. Many nostrums have been recommended as cures--_infallible cures_, of course--for the sting of a Bee, a few of which I will just mention; premising, however, that I myself never make use of any of them; for, if by chance a Bee happens to sting me, which is very rarely indeed the case, though I never so much as cover my face, nor even put on a pair of gloves, when operating among thousands and tens of thousands of Bees, I extract the sting instanter, and never afterwards experience the least pain, nor suffer the slightest inconvenience. But, if the sting be suffered to remain in the flesh, during a few seconds only, it is not very easy to stop the inflammation and to allay the pain. An onion cut horizontally into thin slices, and pressed closely to the wounded part, and renewed at short intervals, has been accounted a good application. If the part stung be first well-rubbed with one of those slices, that would perhaps have a soothing effect. The juice of the plantain is also said to be a specific; olive oil is another; so is common salt; so is laudanum; so is spirits of hartshorn; so is a solution of sal ammoniac; and so is chalk or whitening. The DOCTOR (and who so likely to prescribe properly for the case as the Doctor?) says[F] "common whitening proves an effectual remedy against the effects of the sting of a Bee or wasp. The whitening is to be moistened with cold water, and immediately applied. It may be washed off in a few minutes, when neither pain nor swelling will ensue." [Footnote F: See "The Doctor," page 15.]