BEES' AND WASPS' POISON.
It is time that someone challenged a popular belief not unsupported by men of science. Within the last few weeks medical and other authorities in various publications have written to endorse the theory that bees' stings are acid, and therefore best cured by the " blue-bag " of rural fame or ammonia ; but that wasps' stings are alkaline, and therefore best cured by an acid, such as- vinegar. One medical cor- respondent last week stated the case in detail and as if he were- dealing with certainties. In more than one respect he and the thousands who nurse the belief are in complete but apparently unconscious disagreement with' the' latest and most expert entomologists who have studied the very com- plicated question of the poisonous secretions of bees, wasps,
and ants. _ * * * *
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