36 The Structure and Habits of Spiders. 



Insects of the same kinds were wounded in 

 the same places with needles, and died in 

 about the same time as when bitten. 



From these experiments Mr. Blackwall was 

 led . to believe that the secretion from the 

 spider's jaws is not poisonous, but that insects 

 die, when bitten, from loss of blood and me- 

 chanical injury. 



Mr. Moggridge, who studied the habits of 

 trap-door spiders for several years, was more 

 than once bitten by them, but never had any 

 pain or inflammation from the bites. 



The bites of Latrodectus guttatus of the 

 south of Europe, and an allied species in Cali- 

 fornia, are much dreaded, but probably as much 

 on account of the size and conspicuous colors 

 of the spider as any thing else. 



The Tarantula, also a south European spider, 

 has been supposed to cause epilepsy by its 

 bites, which could only be relieved by music of 

 particular kinds. These stories appear, how- 

 ever, to be all nonsense : at any rate, the Taran- 

 tula bites produce no such effect nowadays. 

 These spiders live in holes in sand, out of 

 which they rush after passing insects, and may 



