Poisonous Animals oi^ the DrsErt 385 



symptoms following the bite of this species, one of which ended 

 fatally. This may even then have been an exceptional case due to, 

 personal condition or even in part to fear. As I read over the, 

 account of this and another severe case from the same locality 

 (North Carolina) I cannot but wonder whether the reported dosage 

 with alcohol may not have put the fatal touch upon the one case 

 and the nearly fatal touch upon the other. We know now that 

 whiskey is the worst thing to give at certain stages in rattlesnake 

 bite, notwithstanding popular opinion to the contrary, and it may 

 well be so in the case of the bite of this spider. A case is personally 

 reported to me from Yuma, Arizona, of a bite from a black spider, 

 doubtless this or a related species. In this case the victim, a lady, 

 was bitten on the hand and serious "symptoms of blood poison- 

 ing" followed, which it required some weeks to cure. 



This exceptional spider is easily recognizable, being shiny 

 black, with red or yellow markings. An hour-glass shaped mark on 

 the lower side of the abdomen is the most constant of these marks. 

 Spots may in addition be found along the middle of the back. The 

 male has in addition to these, four pairs of stripes on the sides of 

 the abdomen. A gray species of this genus has been described from 

 California, and may belong to our fauna, but no reports are avail- 

 able concerning injury from it. 



MATA YEN ADO 



Near relatives of the spiders are the peculiar creatures com- 

 monly known in this region as the "vinegarone" (Fig. 8), of which 

 five kinds are definitely reported from Arizona. This is called in 

 local Spanish iiiata vcnado (kill deer). Others occur in Colorado, 

 New Mexico, and California, and it is likely that one or more addi- 

 tional kinds may be found here. Twelve species are at present 

 known in North America north of Mexico, so that probably half the 

 kinds now known are native to this State. All are restricted in dis- 

 tribution to the West and to the Southwest. These creatures are 

 accounted rather rare by writers, but we believe that their nocturnal 

 habits (one or two kinds are said to be diurnal) makes them seem 

 to be less plentiful than they really are. They hide by day in holes 

 and under stones and rubbish and come forth by night for insect 

 prey. They are very active when engaged in killing ants, and have, 

 been called wind-scorpions on account of their speed and agility in 

 pursuit of their prey. They have been called sun-spiders also, pre- 

 sumablv some diurnal kind receiving this name. The characteristic 



