Abstract
1. I OBSERVE that Dr. Romanes, in his very interesting work on “Animal Intelligence,” has been good enough to notice an account given by me in NATURE, vol. xi. p. 29, of an instance of a scorpion committing suicide under special excitement. It may be well to remention the fact that in this case the rays of the sun, focused on the back of the scorpion by means of a common lens, were the exciting cause of the self-inflicted fatal sting; and to set the matter at rest it may be remarked that two witnesses who saw the experiment can corroborate my statements. On reconsidering the whole affair, however, it occurred to me that in wounding its own back the scorpion may have merely been trying to get rid of an imaginary enemy. The concentrated rays of the sun no doubt caused pain, and the sting was probably directed towards the seat of this in an automatic manner, as a defensive act. This seems to me a more feasible explanation than to regard the action as due to an instinct detrimental to the individual and to the species.
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BIDIE, G. Intelligence in Animals. Nature 28, 244 (1883). https://doi.org/10.1038/028244a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/028244a0
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