SPIDER-BITES. 197 



The Indians also use it in case of spider- 

 bites. A spider-bite may sound odd in 

 European ears, and the wound is rarely met 

 with on man or woman; but it is a sore 

 plague to the owners of horses and mules : 

 j^ never heard of horned-cattle being injured 

 by them. 



This disgusting looking animal, that does 

 more harm in one night than seven or eight 

 months of time can repair, is an immense 

 hairy spider, with a large, round, but flat 

 body, something like a crab ; the legs are 

 rather short for spiders; the body may 

 measure three or four inches across; and the 

 mischief this spider does consists in biting or 

 sucking the coronet of horses' and mules' feet 

 at night when they are feeding in the forest 

 or on the savannah. The next day the coro- 

 net inflames, swells, and in a few more days 

 there is the evident mark of the hoof sepa- 

 rating from the foot : the poor animal suffers 

 dreadfully, which may be inferred from the 

 fact, that he will lie down and nibble all the 

 grass within his reach, and will then rather 

 go a day without eating than rise to change 

 his berth. The hoof soon drops off, and a 

 new hoof begins to grow over the sensible 

 foot, as also does the wall or crust, but it is 



