THE TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS. 217 



appearances, believe that spiders were able to procreate four 

 winged flies. 



Notwithstanding the disgust or horror which they generally 

 inspire, the spiders are, with very rare exceptions, by no means 

 injurious to man. However promptly their venom may act 

 upon insects, even that of the largest species of Northern 

 Europe produces, on coming into contact with our skin, no pain 

 or inflammation equalling in virulence that of the wasp, the 

 bee, the gnat, or other insects of a still smaller size. The giant 

 spiders of a sunnier sky, armed with more formidable weapons, 

 naturally produce a more painful sting; but even here the 

 effects have been much exaggerated. 



In the country of the Makalolo, Dr. Livingstone, feeling 

 something running across his forehead as he was falling asleep, 

 put up his hand to wipe it off, and was sharply stung, both on 

 the hand and head ; the pain was very acute. On obtaining a 

 light, he found that it had been inflicted by a light-coloured 

 spider about half an inch in length ; but one of the negroes 

 having crushed it with his fingers, he had no opportunity of 

 examining whether the pain had been produced by poison from 

 a sting, or from its mandibles. No remedy was applied, and the 

 pain ceased in about two hours. 



If thus, among the many species of spiders, hardly a single 

 ; one may be said to be formidable to man, the indirect services 

 which they render him — by diminishing the number of noxious 

 insects — are far from inconsiderable. 



In several countries where insects cause great ravages, the 

 services of the spiders are duly appreciated. Thus in the 

 West Indies, a large and formidable trap-door spider, which 

 would make a European start back with horror, is looked upon 

 with pleasure by the islanders of the torrid zone, who respect it 

 as a sacred animal, by no means to be disturbed or harmed, as 

 it delivers them from the cockroaches, which otherwise would 

 overrun their dwellings. Those who do not possess these 

 spiders take good care to purchase and transport them into 

 their houses, expecting from them similar services to those we 

 derive from a good domestic cat. The spectacle of a trap-door 

 spider bounding on a cockroach, with all the ferocity of a tiger 

 springing on its prey, would no doubt have all the interest of a 

 bull-fight if the diminutive size of the combatants were swelled 



