140 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Music, a cure for the tarantism, 



In the Philosophical Transactions for lf>72, is 

 an extract of a letter from Dr. Thomas Cornelia, 

 a Neapolitan physician, to John Doddington, 

 Esq. his Majesty's resident at Venice, communi- 

 cated by the latter, in which,, speaking of his 

 intention to send to Mr. Dodclington some 

 tarantulas, he says, "Meanwhile I shall not 

 omit to impart to you what was related to me a 

 few days since, by a judicious and unprejudiced 

 person, which is, that being in the country of 

 Otranto, where these insects are in great num- 

 bers, there was a man who, thinking himself 

 stung by a tarantula, shewed in his neck a small 

 speck, about which in a short time there arose 

 some pimples, full of a serous humor; and that 

 in a few hours after the poor man was afflicted 

 with very violent symptoms, as syncopes, very 

 great agitations, giddiness of the head, and vomit- 

 ing; but that without any inclination to dance, 

 and without a desire to have any musical instru- 

 ment, he miserably died within two days. The 

 same person affirmed to me, that all those that 

 think themselves bitten by tarantulas, except 

 such as for evil ends feign themselves to be so, 

 are for the most part young wanton girls, whom 

 the Italian writers call dolce di sale, who, by 

 some particular indisposition falling into this 

 melancholy madness, persuade themselves, ac- 

 cording to the vulgar prejudice, to have been, 

 stung by a tarantula.'' 



Dr. Serao, an Italian physician, in a very in,- 

 3 



