EFFECTS AND USES OF SPIDER POISOX. 277 



authentic facts concerning wounds inflicted from time to time by certain 

 spiders. I have met many cases recorded in public prints, in magazines, 

 and personal letters. It is true that in most cases the testimony can 

 hardly be regarded as reliable. It amounts, usually, to this: That some 

 one was bitten by an insect, the result being either serious or 



Indefinite f a ^ a i . that a " black spider " was seen somewhere near the in- 

 Testi- 



dividual, or near the couch or bed or seat upon which the 

 mony. r 



individual rested ; that the said black spider (it is always a 

 " black spider," with no further description) was immediately killed, and 

 therefore no specimen of the individual could be obtained. The indefinite 

 character of such testimony at once excludes it as evidence. 



But cases somewhat better authenticated are also reported, several of 

 which appear to be worthy of credence. In these examples the same 

 " black spider " figures. But something more definite appears after a little 

 cross questioning; and it is important to note that in most of such cases 

 the testimony centres upon two spiders. One is a well known and widely 

 distributed Lineweaver, Latrodectus mactans, Walck. (the L. verecundum 

 of Hentz), and the other a large black Saltigrade spider which is proba- 

 bly Phidippus morsitans (NValck.). 1 In most cases Latrodectus is the 

 offending party. Concerning this species there is a very general concensus 

 of popular feeling that it is extremely poisonous, and this feeling is found 

 not only among the colored people and others of the United States and the 

 West India Islands, but in communities in the old world where the genus 

 has representatives. The testimony above quoted concerning this aranead 

 certainly seems to justify the popular belief ; yet the well known naturalist, 

 M. Lucas, as we have seen, was bitten by Latrodectus without the least 

 discomfort ! (See Appendix for additional facts.) 



IV. 



Separate from the question as to the effect of spider venom upon the 

 human organization, is the question, what is its effect upon the natural 

 enemies and prey of the spider ? One writer 2 says that five 

 ... or six flies which he fed to an Orbweaver, were trussed up suc- 



cessively after having been apparently killed. After the lapse 

 of fifteen or thirty minutes, these began to revive, and before the hour 

 was completed, most of them had extricated themselves and got away. The 

 flies which recovered were the last ones thrown into the web. 



Another observer 3 describes a conflict between a lineweaving spider 

 and a species of Epeira, in which the latter was wounded by the former, 

 the fangs being sunk into the leg, where the biter hung on like a bull dog. 

 From this moment, Epeira, though much larger, made no attempt to 



1 The Attus audax and A. sexpunctatus of Hentz. 



2 Edward Sutton, "Science Gossip," 1868, page 45. * " Science Gossip," 1876, page 25o. 



