Araneida or Spiders 
9 
swept Germany at about the same time (fig. 5). The evidence that 
the spider was the cause of the first is about as conclusive as is that 
of the demoniacal origin of the latter. The true explanation of the 
outbreaks is doubtless to be found in the depleted physical and mental 
condition of the people, resulting from the wars and the frightful 
plagues which devastated all Europe previous to, and during these 
times. An interesting discussion of these aspects of the question is to 
be found in Hecker. 
5 . Dancing mania. Illustration from Johann Ludwig Gottfried's Chronik. 1632. 
So gross has been the exaggeration and so baseless the popular fear 
regarding spiders that entomologists have been inclined to discredit 
all accounts of serious injury from their bites. Not only have the 
most circumstantial of newspaper accounts proved to be without 
foundation but there are on record a number of cases where the bite 
of many of the commoner species have been intentionally provoked 
and where the effect has been insignificant. Some years ago the 
senior author personally experimented with a number of the largest of 
our northern species, and with unexpected results. The first surprise 
was that the spiders were very unwilling to bite and that it required a 
considerable effort to get them to attempt to do so. In the second 
