In places it was
necessary to stop and fill up these washouts by shoveling earth and
stone into the places before the detachment could pass.
[Illustration: Cuban Soldiers as They Were.]
On one of these occasions, while heaving rock to fill up a bad
washout, Priv. Jones was stung by a scorpion. Jones did not know what
had bitten him, and described it as a little black thing about as long
as his finger. Fortunately there was a small supply of whisky with the
detachment, and this remedy was applied to Jones internally. Some
soldier in the detachment suggested that a quid of tobacco externally
would be beneficial, so this also was done. It was not a dressing
favorable to an aseptic condition of the wound, perhaps, nor was there
anything in the quid of tobacco calculated to withdraw the poison or
neutralize its effects, so the doctors may characterize this as a very
foolish proceeding; but country people skilled in simples and herb
remedies might tell some of these ultra scientific surgeons that the
application of a quid of tobacco or of a leaf of tobacco to the sting
of a wasp or the bite of a spider, or even the sting of a scorpion, is
nearly always attended by beneficial results.
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