230 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
the skin a most unbearable, painful itching and burning, which in prepar- 
ing and stuffing these spiders I several times had occasion to experience." 
In more recent times the poisonous nature of the hairs of Theraphosidcp 
has been utterly lost sight of, and the latest accounts of poisonous insects 
only refer to the bite of these large spiders. Whether the poisonous 
quality is due to some acid contained in the hollowed hairs or solely to 
mechanical irritation caused by the barbed nature of the hairs I have to 
leave undecided. 
In the discussion following, Dr. Marx stated that poisons are 
not soluble in oil, but are so in water and alcohol. He also be- 
lieved that the hairs were not poisonous, but merely irritative, or 
perhaps in some cases barbed. 
Mr. Schwarz also read the following note : 
NOTES ON CICADA SEPTENDECIM IN 1889. 
By E. A. SCHWARZ. 
Our knowledge of the extent of Riley's Brood VIII of the Periodical 
Cicada (i 855-^2 -'89) is practically based upon Dr. Fitch's observations in 
1855 ; and its expected reappearance in 1872 has apparently not attracted 
any attention, since I fail to find in the more accessible literature any allu- 
sions thereto. From this year's observations I am able to add three new 
localities to those already on record, viz : Maryland Heights, opposite 
Harper's Ferry, Va., where six specimens of Cicada septendecim were 
found by Mr. Heidemann and myself on May igth ; the District of Colum- 
bia, where, in the Smithsonian grounds, one pupa shell was found by my- 
self on May 21 st, two pupae on May 24th, and two others the following 
day; and Alexandria county, Va., where, on May iyth and 24th, two pupa 
cases were found by Mr. Ashmead, and three other pupa shells and the 
wing of an imago on June 2d by myself. 
The Cicadas observed at Harper's Ferry were all freshly matured speci- 
mens ; their pupa shells were in most instances found near the imago, and 
they were evidently the first to appear in that particular locality. They 
were all found on a very small clearing nearly surrounded by wood, and 
from which the trees had been cut down apparently in the winter of 
iSSy-'SS. None were found or seen within the woods themselves, and it 
is to this particular occurrence that I wish to call attention. There are 
several instances on record where Cicada septendecim emerged in hot- 
houses weeks, or even months, earlier than outdoors. In such places the 
ground is warmed by artificial heat, and the development of the Cicada 
larvae or pupae had thus been accelerated. Now, a clearing made in the 
midst of a dense forest forms a natural hot-house, the soil receiving much 
more warmth on such places than in the shady woods. We should thus 
not wonder to see the Cicadas appear earlier on such cleared spaces than 
in the woods. I am even inclined to believe that under favorable circum- 
