56 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



and it is from the town of Taranto in 

 Soutliern Italy, wliere it commonly oc- 

 curs, that the spider has derived its 

 popular name. Like the trap dooi- 

 spiders it lives in an underground tun- 

 nel, to which, however, it does not at- 

 tach a lid or trap door. The tunnel is 

 lined with silk, and there the tarantula 

 awaits the insects unfortunate enough 

 to walk into its parlour. Its dwelling 

 thus differs from that of the triante- 

 lope, the home of which is usually Ije- 

 neath the bark o-f trees. The tarantula 

 is certainly poisonous, though the toxic 

 qualities of its poison have probably 

 been exaggerated. It is, however, said 

 to be capable of inflicting a severe 

 bite, and among the superstitious Latin 

 peasants it was regarded with dread. 

 They believed that if a person was 

 bitten by a tarantula, his nervous 

 system was rendered abnormally 

 sensitive by the poison, and he 

 sank into a letliargy from which he 

 could only l)e aroused by the inlaying 

 of music. Tins caused him to execute 

 a wild and frenzied dance, which had 



the effect of working the poison out of 

 his system. This choreographic re- 

 medy gave rise to the dancing mania 

 known as Tarantism, which spread like 

 an epidemic over Europe during the 

 Middle Ages, and limis its i)arallel in 

 the jazz craze of the present day. The 

 tarantella, a dance performed by the 

 people of Southern Italy, is said to be 

 a relic of that which gave relief to the 

 victims of the tarantula's bite. 



The widely distributed Red Backed 

 Spider (Latrodectus hasseltii), though 

 small in size, is certainly harmful, and 

 we may regard it as our most poisonous 

 species. The bite of this spider causes 

 great suffering, and some weeks may 

 elapse before the victim cjuite re- 

 covers from its toxic effects. Up to the 

 present, no death has been recorded as 

 a result of its bite, and Dr. Frank 

 Tidswell, after a numlier of experiments 

 conducted at the Board of Health, Syd- 

 ney, writes "Tlie results may ... be 

 taken as indicating the improbability of 

 a fatal issue from iMiisoning by Latro- 

 (l?cti(f< hasseJtii.'' 



Professor W. K. Gregory and Mr. 

 H. C. Raven, of the American Museum 

 of Natural History, New \'()rk. are at 

 present in Australia with the object of 

 studying our fauna and securing ma- 

 terial for the projected Australian Hall 

 in that great museum. They are mak- 

 ing this museum their headfjuarters, 

 and with characteristic energy have es- 

 tablished a collecting camp near El)or, 

 in the New England district, wher'e Mr. 

 Raven will remain for al)out two 

 months. Professor H. F. Osborn, Pre- 

 sident of the American Museum, who 

 is deeply interested in c|uestions of 

 faunal conservation, instructed our 

 visitors to impress upon the Austra- 

 lian public tlu^ great desirability of do- 



ing e\erything possible to save the 

 uni(iue animals of Australia from ex- 

 tinction, and during his short stay in 

 Sydney, Professor Gregory found time 

 to deliver in our Lecture Hall a de- 

 lightful address on "The Australian 

 marsupials, and why they are worth 

 jirotecting," a subject on which he also 

 addi'essed an influential audience in 

 Brisbane, under the auspices of the 

 Field Naturalists' Clul). We hope to 

 publisli the substance of his lecture in 

 our next number. Professor Gregory 

 has now gone to Tasmania, and intends 

 to pay short visits to Melbourne and 

 Adelaide, returning to Sydney towards 

 the end of August, prior to his depar- 

 ture for the States. 



