SOLIFUGAE 91 



full speed, they stop abruptly and begin hunting about like a dog 

 checked in mid-course by the scent of game. When gorged with 

 food or when pregnant, however, they are fat and sluggish. Some 

 species have been known to climb trees in search of insects and 

 other prey. It is probable that the ability to move is the main attri- 

 bute by which living prey is distinguished from non-living, for in 

 captivity a dead insect will be attacked only if suitably moved 

 (Turner, 1916). 



There has been much controversy as to the poisonous properties 

 with which these creatures have been widely credited. Lichtenstein 

 (1797) has endeavoured to show that the mice which plagued the 

 Philistines (1 Sam. v. 6) when they captured the 'ark of the Cove- 

 nant' may have been Galeodes arabs, and it is certainly true that 

 their hairy bodies and rapid movements give to many species a 

 mouse-like appearance. This author also suggested that the 

 'emerods' with which they were plagued referred to the sores 

 caused by the bites of these animals, for Solifugae have been 

 known to attack travellers asleep in the desert at night. Olivier 

 (1807) disbelieved the awful reports of the Arabs, who were terri- 

 fied at the sight of the wind-scorpions, which appeared in the tents 

 at night and who told yarns, each more horrible than the last, as to 

 their dangerous bites. He did admit, however, that with such jaws 

 the results would probably be most painful. People have been bit- 

 ten accidentally by the animals getting under their clothes and the 

 effect is sometimes severe. The inhabitants of Baku on the Caspian 

 Sea believe that a local species is especially poisonous after its 

 winter sleep, and they rub the wound with the carcass of the animal 

 after first steeping it in boiling oil, in order to neutralise the effects 

 of the venom. On the other hand, the Somalis do not regard them as 

 noxious — indeed, they have no name in their language for anything 

 so unimportant! Hutton (1843) records the case of a lizard bitten 

 by a Galeodes which recovered in three days, and other authors 

 have searched in vain for poison glands such as those in the jaws of 

 spiders.' Bernard (1897) suggested that poisoning might result from 

 a simple exudation of toxic excretory matter through the setal pores 

 which, he believed, could be traced along the tips of the jaws. 



Phisalix (1922)* records a number of cases of Solifugae biting 

 men and concludes that in view of the severity of the effects which 



