Chaumeton mentions a young man who did not
perceive a wasp in a glass of sweet wine, and swallowed the
insect. He was stung in the throat, followed by such intense
inflammation that the man died asphyxiated in the presence of his
friends, who could do nothing to relieve him. In connection with
this case there is mentioned an English agriculturist who saved
the life of one of his friends who had inadvertently swallowed a
wasp with a glass of beer. Alarming symptoms manifested
themselves at the moment of the sting. The farmer made a kind of
paste from a solution of common salt in as little water as
possible, which he gave to the young man, and, after several
swallows of the potion, the symptoms disappeared as if by
enchantment. There is a recent account from Bridgeport, Conn., of
a woman who, while eating a pear, swallowed a hornet that had
alighted on the fruit. In going down the throat the insect stung
her on the tonsil. Great pain and inflammation followed, and in a
short time there was complete deprivation of the power of speech.
Mease relates the case of a corpulent farmer who, in July, 1835,
was stung upon the temple by a common bee. He walked to a fence a
short distance away, thence to his house, 20 yards distant, lay
down, and expired in ten minutes.
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