It is not - yet precisely decided in what degree
the wasp's and bee's stings differ in virulence or composition, though it is established that the ant's poison is the most acid of the three. Formic acid is rightly named. What is quite certain is that the bee's sting carries a poison which is a mixture of an acid and an alkali. When the ingenious lancet • that we call a sting slides down the perfect grooves devised for it two glands secrete an acid poison, and just before the point appears a third gland supplies an alkaline poison. Our experimenters have even gone so far as to try the- effect of these two sorts of poison separately, and have come to the conclusion that the edit-fixture is much more deadly than either administered singly. Why two contraries should fail to cancel one anther's-potency is a purely chemical question that perhaps awaits solution ; but there is no longer any reason to doubt that the normal poison of many hymenoptera is both acid and alkaline. Waspd have "been immensely numerous this year, and are now reaching the creepy-crawly stage When they are most likely to sting. Now is the time to try the conflicting remedies. I never -yet- heard even of an entomologist who attempted to find a perfect cure for the mingled poisons -by administering both " blue-bag " and vinegar ; but either seems to have a certain curative
influence. * i * *
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