The Pompili 



the stinging-nettle. A whitish tumefaction 

 almost immediately surrounded the two 

 pricks; and the circumference, within a ra- 

 dius of about an inch, was coloured an ery- 

 sipelas red, accompanied by a very slight 

 swelling. In an hour and a half, it had all 

 disappeared, except the mark of the pricks, 

 which persisted for several days, as any other 

 small wound would have done. This was in 

 September, in rather cool weather. Perhaps 

 the symptoms would have displayed some- 

 what greater severity at a warmer season." 

 Without being serious, the effect of the 

 Segestria's poison is plainly marked. A 

 sting causing sharp pain and swelling, with 

 the redness of erysipelas, is no trifling mat- 

 ter. While Duges' experiment reassures us 

 in so far as we ourselves are concerned, it is 

 none the less the fact that the Cellar Spider's 

 poison is a terrible thing for insects, whether 

 because of the small size of the victim, 

 or because it acts with special efficacy 

 upon an organization which differs widely 

 from our own. One Pompilus, though 

 greatly inferior to the Segestria in size and 

 strength, nevertheless makes war upon the 

 Black Spider and succeeds in overpowering 

 this formidable quarry. This is Pompilus 

 IS 



