84 Life and Immortahty. 
care to know, it would seem, the good it does for man. 
He owes to it, in a large measure, the protection of his 
crops, and no little of the comfort he enjoys in life. Spiders 
are carnivorous creatures, and destroy vast number of insects, 
many of which are man’s worst enemies. They merit, and 
deservingly, too, his kindness and protection for the benefits 
they confer. 
Tarantulas have been supposed to produce epilepsy by 
their bites, which could only be relieved by music of certain 
kinds. Such stories, and they have been widely circulated 
and believed, are the veriest nonsense, for tarantula-bites 
produce no such effects nowadays. These spiders, which 
live in holes in sand, out of which they reach after passing 
insects, are no more savage in their habits than other spiders, 
for Dufour, a celebrated French naturalist, once kept one 
that soon learned to take flies from his fingers without mani- 
festing the least disposition to bite. Different species quickly 
learn, when treated with kindness, to regard man as their 
friend. I have seen Agalena take food from the hand out of 
a pair of forceps, or water from a brush, and even to reach on 
tiptoe after it from the mouth of a bottle placed for her 
accommodation. Though naturally timid and shy, and prone 
to flee to her funnel on man’s approach, yet she has been 
known to permit the most unexpected familiarities without 
fear or resentment. Many a female has taken from my 
hand the proffered fly, and submitted to the gentle caresses 
of my finger down the back and abdomen with the most 
pleasurable satisfaction, They have come at the sound of 
my voice, dancing upon their sheeted web like one gone 
mad, so perfectly carried away with delight. An interesting 
experience of last summer during a brief stay in the country 
seems apropos at this time. While sauntering carelessly along 
a forest-road I came unexpectedly upon a rustic bridge, with 
a railing on one side, which overspanned a small water- 
course. Leaning for rest and support against the railing, 
soon my attention was arrested by a huge female spider, 
