EFFECTS AND USES OF SPIDER POISON. 277 



authentic facts concerning wounds inflicted from time to time by certain 



spiders. I have met many cases recorded in public prints, in magazines, 



and personal letters. It is true that in most cases the testimony can 



hardly be regarded as reliable. It amounts, usually, to this : That some 



one was bitten by an insect, the result being either serious or 



Indefinite f j^^al ; that a " black spider " was seen somewhere near the in- 



Testi- 



„ „ dividual, or near the couch or bed or seat upon which the 



individual rested ; that the said black spider (it is always a 

 " black spider," with no further description) was immediately killed, and 

 therefore no specimen of the individual could be obtained. The indefinite 

 character of such testimony at once excludes it as evidence. 



But cases somewhat better authenticated are also reported, several of 

 which appear to be worthy of credence. In these examples the same 

 " black spider " figures. But something more definite appears after a little 

 cross questioning ; and it is important to note that in most of such cases 

 the testimony centres upon two spiders. One is a well knowTi and widely 

 distributed Lineweaver, Latrodectus mactans, Walck. (the L. verecundum 

 of Hentz), and the other a large black Saltigrade spider which is proba- 

 bly Phidippus morsitans (Walck.). ^ In most cases Latrodectus is the 

 offending party. Concerning this species there is a very general concensus 

 of popular feeling that it is extremeh' poisonous, and this feeling is found 

 not only among the colored people and others of the United States and the 

 West India Islands, but in communities in the old world where the genus 

 has representatives. The testimony above quoted concerning this aranead 

 certainly seems to justify the popular belief ; yet the well known naturalist, 

 M. Lucas, as we have seen, was bitten by Latrodectus without the least 

 discomfort ! (See Appendix for additional facts.) 



IV. 



Separate from the question as to the effect of spider venom upon the 



human organization, is the question, what is it.s effect upon the natural 



enemies and prey of the spider ? One writer ^ says that five 



ec son^^, g^^ ^-pg which he fed to an Orb weaver, were trussed uii sue- 



cessively after having been apparently killed. After the lapse 



of fifteen or thirty minutes, these began to revive, and before the hour 



was completed, most of them had extricated themselves and got away. The 



flies which recovered were the last ones thrown into the web. 



Another observer ^ describes a conflict between a lineweaviug spider 

 and a species of Epeira, in which the latter was wounded by the former, 

 the fangs being sunk into the leg, where the biter hung on like a bull dog. 

 From this moment, Epeira, though much larger, made no attempt to 



' The Attvis audax and A. sexpunotatus of Hentz. 



^ Edward Sutton, "Science Gossip," 1868, page 45. '"Science Gossip," 1876, page 25n. 



