I made some experiments a few years ago on the poison of scorpions, which were published by the Linnæan Society. I obtained live scorpions—a beautiful citron-coloured kind, of large size—from Biskra, in Algeria (Fig. 15). The poison-gland and sac are double, and contained in the last joint of the tail, which is swollen, and ends in a splendid curved spine or sting. The scorpion carries its tail raised in a graceful curve over its back, and strikes with the sting by a powerful forward stroke. One can seize the tail by the last joint but one, and thus safely hold the animal, and see the poison exude in drops from the perforated sting. I found that if I pressed the sting thus held into the scorpion’s own body, or into that of another scorpion, no harm resulted to the wounded animal, although plenty of the poison entered the little wound made by the sting. A large cockroach or a mouse similarly wounded by the sting was paralysed, and died in a few minutes. It is a custom in countries where scorpions abound, and are troublesome, and even dangerous to human life, for the natives to make a circle of red-hot charcoal, and to place a large scorpion in the centre of the enclosed area. The scorpion, it is stated, runs round inside the circle, and, finding that escape is impossible, deliberately drives its sting into its back, and so commits suicide. My experiments showed that the scorpion could not kill itself in this way, as its poison does not act on itself. Moreover, it has been shown by Professor Bourne, of Madras, that although scorpions constantly fight with one another, they never attempt to use their stings in these battles, but only their powerful, lobster-like claws. The stings would be useless, and are reserved for their attacks on animals susceptible to the poison. I also found the ground for the belief that the scorpion kills itself when enclosed in a fiery circle. Incredible as it may appear in regard to such denizens of the hot regions of the earth, both the desert scorpion and the large dark-green Indian scorpions actually faint and become motionless and insensible when exposed for a few minutes to a temperature a little above that of the human body. This was carefully ascertained by using an incubator and a thermometer. The scorpion in the fiery circle lashes about with its sting, and then suddenly faints owing to the heat. If removed from the heat it recovers completely; but, of course, when it is supposed to have committed suicide, no one takes the trouble to remove it. I made, several times, the actual experiment of placing a large active scorpion within a ring-like wall, a foot in diameter, formed by live coals. The scorpion never stung itself. On one occasion it walked out over the coals, and on other occasions, after lashing its tail and running about, fainted, and became motionless.