and their fuppofed Poifon. 1 25 



told him, the fmell which arofe when flie burnt fpiders in 

 that manner had often affe£led her head fo much, that flie 

 thought the objefts fhe faw turned round. She often even 

 experienced fainting fits with cold fweats, and fometimes a 

 flight vomitino;. But notwithftandino; all this, {he found fo 

 much pleafure in tormenting thefe poor inlotrts, that nothing- 

 could cure her of her mania till flie met with the accident 

 above mentioned. This leflbn may ferve as a warning to 

 thofe who have the fame mania, and who, befides expofing 

 thenifelves to injury of the like kind, run the riik of burning 

 their apartment, or perhaps the whole houfe. 



The punftu res made by large fpiders ([ here allude to thofe 

 of France) are almoft infenfible. There is formed around the 

 wound a livid fwelling, fometimes with phlyiilenes, which 

 feem to announce a feptic poifon. The other fymptoms, de- 

 fcribed bv different authors, are fo various, that, if they were 

 united in the fame fubjetl, the poifon of the Ipider would be the 

 moft violent of anv known. It is furprifing how the ancients 

 have affigned particular fymptoms to charafterlfe the punc- 

 ture of each kind of phalangium and fpider. One might be 

 induced to believe that they obfcrved an analogy or relation 

 between our humours and the colours of thefe infects : they 

 have marked all the degrees of pain, from itching to flupor. 

 On this fubjeft the reader may confult Paulus ^gineta, Avi- 

 cenna, Rhazcs, Nicander, Grevin, &c. Afterwards a whole 

 cloud of authors repeated that the venom of fpiders, intro- 

 duced into the body in any manner whatever, was followed 

 by numbnefs of the part, cold of the extremities, fhivering, 

 fwelling of the lower belly, palenefs, involuntary {bedding 

 of tears, and an inclination to make water ; priapifm m 

 young perfons, relaxation of the fame member in old people, 

 convulfions, &c. 



It is very uncommon to fee confequences fo fatal, unlefs 

 people have the misfortune to be bitten by the avicular fpider 

 of America, which deftroys birds' nefts;'or by the black fpider 

 of Madagafcar, which, according to Flacourt, occafiohs {lii- 

 vering, and cool.-i the blood ; or, in the laft place, by the 

 tunga, the wolf-fpider, and nhamdiig-uajuy which are fero- 

 cious fpiders of Brafil, mentioned by Leclufe and JNIargraft'. 



Mcrian 



