and their fuppofed Potfon. X2^ 



tions of thofe who have feen difagreeable confequences from 

 the pricking of fpiders. Lifler is among this number ; and 

 Lifter muft be bche\^e.d, becaufe he made many obfervations 

 on thefe infefts. This author fays pofitively, in a particular 

 treatife, that feveral fpiders have a venomous Hquor*. We 

 are aflured, on the other hand, by Robert Boyle t, that he 

 never faw any venomous fpiders in Ireland, notwithftanding 

 the prejudices of the people ; bui, out of rcfpeft for an author 

 who had none for others, he durft not controvert what Sca- 

 liger had advanced in regard to the fpiders of Gafcony, 

 which, he fays, are fo venomous, that, when they arc cruflied 

 with the feet, the venom penetrates the foles of the flioes. 



The experiments of M. Bon, a member of the Chamber 

 of Accounts of Languedoc, fccm, however, contrary to the 

 affertion of Scaliger. This magiftrate, who endeavoured to 

 apply to fome uleful purpofe the threads of fpiders, touched 

 a great number of thefe infefts, and had been frequently bit 

 by them without experiencing any bad confequences. HotF- 

 man, without doubt, went too far when he defied any one 

 to prove that fpiders or any other infefts, taken internally, 

 ever caufed the leaft inconvenience to people in health. In 

 this defiance there is, without doubt, fome exaggeration. It 

 is well known that the injury done to us by the greater part 

 of infcfts arifcs only from their fting; but infe(?ts of a cauftic 

 nature cannot certainly be fwallowed with impunity. Though 

 there have been people who ate fpiders, difagreeable confe- 

 quences have been feen to arife from the bite of thefe infeft^. 

 This depends on the kind of fpider, the time, and the place. 

 As there arc poifons which have more aftion when intro- 

 duced through the (kin thrui when taken internally, fuch as 

 that of the viper, I am inclined to think that the poifon of th*e 

 fpider may have a contrary effcft; it exercifes a ftronger adion, 

 perhaps, internally than on the fkin. Punfturcs, indeed, arc 

 of little confcquence; and we are told of (iirprifing effefts by 



"'■ Araneas in ipfo morfu vtncnum fuum dimittL-re, idco mihi verifi- 

 niile eft, quod ab una aliqua hac bcftioia,;i me lactli'ir.i, lymjjli.v: puriirimv 

 /iiniles guttas cxiguas dccies ct aniplius intra hrcvc tLinpiii icriKifas no- 

 ta\i i idque tonis faflitavit quotics moidcre voluit. 



t Tcnum. Phyfiol. p. 38. 



R % fpider* 



