PSYCHE. 



[June iSSS. 



into the bushes sometimes a foot or more ; 

 also that of L. communis which consists of 

 two sheets of web slightly curved downwards 

 and supported in the same way by an irreg- 

 ular mass of web; several species of Tkeri- 

 dium spin a web consisting of a little 

 tent surrounded by irregular threads under 

 branches of trees; the triangular web of 

 Hyptiote$ cavatus among the dead lower 

 branches of pine trees; the small webs of 

 Diciyna on the ends of dry weeds, and those 

 of Agalena tiaevia, flat on grass with a tube 

 leading out from one corner. 



'James H: Emerton. 



Fatal spider bites. — The following is 

 extracted from Mr. J : B. Smith's report of the 

 meeting of the entomological society o 

 Washington, for i March i8S8, as given in 

 Etitomologica americana (May i88S, v. 4, p. 

 40) : 



"Prof C: V. Riley presented a paper enti- 

 tled, 'A contribution to the litei-ature of fatal 

 spider bites,' giving details of a case in which 

 death resulted from the bite of a spider, pre. 

 sumably Latrodectes mactans. Also details 

 of another case in which the patient recovered 

 from a bite of the same spider. Prof. Riley 

 reviewed the literature of the subject at some 

 length, and concludes that personal idiosyn. 

 cacy is a large factor in these cases and that 

 the poisonous secretion of spiders affected 

 difterent individuals in a very different man- 

 ner, and hence the discrepancy in results. 

 Mr. Otto Lugger related an experience of his 

 own with Phydipfus fripunctatus, L. , which 

 bit one of his children. The result was con- 

 vulsions, high fever, headache, swollen eyes 

 and great pain in the pit of the bitten arm. 

 In about three days all inflamation and un_ 

 toward symptoms had disappeared. Dr. Marx 

 states that the secretion in which Latrodectes 

 mactatis envelops its victims when taken in- 

 ternally had the effect of increasing the pulse 

 from 72 to 120. He commented on the case, 

 but rather skeptically : he cannot see how 

 Latrodectes^ with its minute, soft mandibles, 

 can possibly pierce the skin or contain poison 



enough to produce the violent effects record- 

 ed." 



Value of private collections. — At the 

 end of some sensible remarks in answer to the 

 question "What is the logical raison d'etre 

 of a collection of lepidoptera.?" Mr. F. H. P. 

 Coste, in an article entitled "On collections 

 of lepidoptera" (Entomologist, Apr. 1SS7, v, 

 20, p. 93-96), adds : 



"I should still advocate the collecting of 

 insects by boys : their time is less valuable, 

 and they find it a delightful amusement, and 

 learn to know all our commoner insects, 

 their haunts, and their classification ; whilst, 

 as they grow older, they slide gradually from 

 collecting into scientific entomolog}'. Her- 

 bert Spencer says : The practice of breeding 

 larvae, 'when joined with the entomological 

 collection, adds immense interest to Saturday 

 afternoon rambles, and forms an admirable 

 introduction to the study of physiology.'" 



Mr. Coste rightly enough concludes that 

 the collection and preservation of insects by 

 so many individuals is a waste of time, from 

 a scientific standpoint, and that much of the 

 knowledge gained from maintaining a large 

 private collection can be obtained as well by 

 visits to a museum. 



This abolition of his collection or confining 

 it rigidly to some limited specialty or group 

 of insects would leave the individual free to 

 study particular subjects in entomology, and 

 really to contribute to knowledge, instead of 

 wasting time in pinning, setting and caring 

 for a large collection, much of which is made 

 up of a duplication of specimens found in 

 abundance in museum collections. The ap- 

 plication of the principles of division of labor 

 .in the work of the entomologist is becoming 

 as important as it is in mechanical work, and 

 the drudgery of preserving large collections 

 ought to be left to museums, where it can be 

 done better and at less real expense than b}' 

 individual entomologists. G: D 



No. 145 was issued 11 May, 1S8S. 



