The Life of the Spider 



can safely say as regards the great majority of 

 the Spiders of our regions. 



Nevertheless, a few are to be feared; and 

 foremost among these is the Malmignatte, the 

 terror of the Corsican peasantry. I have seen 

 her settle in the furrows, lay out her web and 

 rush boldly at insects larger than herself; I 

 have admired her garb of black velvet spec- 

 kled with carmine-red; above all, I have heard 

 most disquieting stories told about her. 

 Around Ajaccio and Bonifacio, her bite is re- 

 puted very dangerous, sometimes mortal. The 

 countryman declares this for a fact and the 

 doctor does not always dare deny it. In the 

 neighbourhood of Pujaud, nor far from Avig- 

 non, the harvesters speak with dread of 

 Theridion lugubre, 1 first observed by Leon 

 Dufour in the Catalonian mountains; accord- 

 ing to them, her bite would lead to serious ac- 

 cidents. The Italians have bestowed a bad 

 reputation on the Tarantula, who produces 

 convulsions and frenzied dances in the person 

 stung by her. To cope with 'tarantism,' the 

 name given to the disease that follows on the 

 bite of the Italian Spider, you must have re- 

 course to music, the only efficacious remedy, 



1 A small or moderate-sized Spider found among 

 foliage. — Translator's Note. 



40 



