THE TARANTULA. 365 



only in the Summer, that is, in the months of June, 

 July, and August, when the heat is most intense. 

 For the poison is then warmed, and has power to do 

 harm, being liquefied by the sun. But when the 

 weather is cold it is destitute of all energy. It is 

 evident in the third place, from the sticky web which 

 she weaves, that she has a great deal of viscous 

 moisture which she uses in spinning. 



" You must also know that if a person has been 

 bitten by this animal, the effect of the poison does 

 not appear at first ; but it works slowly, and produces 

 its malign consequences only after the lapse of a year. 

 In six months after the bite, however, certain 

 symptoms are usually noticed, such as lassitude, chill, 

 fever, nausea. As the Summer advances the most 

 extraordinary phenomena are produced in the bodies 

 of those who were stung the year before. For some 

 do nothing but sing and laugh incessantly : others, on 

 the contrary, weep and are silent, as if bereft of 

 speech. Some are overcome by continual slumber, 

 others are perpetually awake. Some are seized by 

 great sadness and a terrible dread, imagining that 

 they are confined in prison ; while others, again, con- 

 duct themselves like madmen, being possessed by the 

 idea that they are kings and sovereigns, and that they 

 have acquired a universal dominion all over the world. 



" Some authorities add that those thoughts 

 which occupied the mind at the time of being stung 

 remain after the poison has worked its way. As 

 a general rule the victims of the Tarantula listen 

 with pleasure to the sounds of musical instruments : 

 and if perad venture one can light upon the note 

 which accords with the evil which they are 



