Writing several years later, also to _Nature_, Dr. Allen Thomson, F.R.S., gives the following account, not, indeed, of his own experience, but that of an eye-witness in whom he feels full confidence. He says: “While residing, many years ago, during the summer months, at the baths of Sulla, in Italy, in a somewhat damp locality, my informant, together with the rest of the family, was much annoyed by the frequent intrusion of small black scorpions into the house, and their being secreted among the bedclothes, in shoes, and other articles of dress. It thus became necessary to be constantly on the watch for these troublesome creatures, and to take means for their removal and destruction. Having been informed by the natives of the place that the scorpion would destroy itself if exposed to a sudden light, my informant and her friends soon became adepts in catching the scorpions and disposing of them in the manner suggested. This consisted in confining the animal under an inverted drinking-glass or tumbler, below which a card was inserted, and then, waiting till dark, suddenly bringing the light of a candle near to the glass in which the animal was confined. No sooner was this done than the scorpion invariably showed signs of great excitement, running round and round the interior of the tumbler with reckless velocity for a number of times. This state having lasted for a minute or more, the animal suddenly became quiet, and, turning its tail on the hinder part of its body over its back, brought its recurved sting down upon the middle of the head, and, piercing it forcibly, in a few seconds became quite motionless, and, in fact, quite dead. This observation was repeated very frequently.”[156] Here, again, it is difficult to see how a mistake in observation can have occurred, and admitting the facts to be true, they go far beyond Mr. Bourne’s theory to account for these phenomena, which, however, has been adopted by Mr. Pocock, as the result of his own experiments. In the first place, it is not here the heat—unless by association of ideas—but the actual sight of the flame that terrifies the scorpion, and death, apparently, is inflicted as the result of that. Again, there can be no doubt as to the self-inflicted stinging, and from the manner of it, as well as its invariability, it seems to have been deliberate. Whether death was the result of it or not, we have the act, and the act, if a voluntary one, must have implied a destructive intention. It hardly seems possible, however, that the light of a candle, outside a tumbler, though held near it, can in so short a time have made the interior so hot as to kill the scorpion, whilst, on the other hand, the poison from the creature’s sting must have pierced its brain, and a few seconds afterwards it was dead.