eee ee ee ~iare i |. ae ee ee a 7 as eal 6 = 4 ~ 
= a! - . 
EFFECTS AND USES OF SPIDER POISON. 275 
very same spider. He states that he had studied the habits of Latrodec- 
tus in Algeria, where it is frequently found, and that he never observed 
that its bite was venomous, although he himself had been bitten 
several times without any bad effect.1 Can it be that the very 
state of mind in which the naturalist approaches the inquiry 
neutralizes the poison by nullifying the effects of an excited imagination ? 
In the entomological journal known as “Insect Life,” issued by the 
United States Department of Agriculture,? there is an excellent article 
giving the evidence for and against the possibility of a fatal bite from 
our common spiders. In this article two cases which appear to be well 
Lucas 
Denies. 
authenticated are given of 
Latrodectus mactans, as 
One of them resulted fatal 
The symptoms of the 
of the victims were negroes. 
from Mr. F. W. 
New ber of cases from 
Zealand tick £ 
Katipo, Ue variety o 
and describes a 
practice, which, however, 
He considers that the symp 
himself make it evident 
fully affected by a narcot 
being absorbed into circu 
brain, and nervous system 
tent, almost amounting to 
was treated with spirits of 
wound, and with ammonia 
bined with brandy in con 
Mr. Wright adds that 
quainted with these spi 
sidered their bite very dan 
é 
FIG, 252. varied markings 
of the abdomen. b,c, d, 
e, f, g, upper side of abdo- 
men; h, under side of the 
specimen marked g; e, f, 
g,h are enlarged two, c 
- and d three times, b four 
times the original. 
the effects of the bite of 
found in North Carolina. 
ly, and the otlier seriously. 
bite are fully detailed. Both 
The same article quotes 
Wright,* who gives a num- 
hearsay of fatal bites by 
spider in New Zealand, 
serious case in his own 
did not result in death. 
toms of the case treated by 
that the man was power- 
ic and acid poison, which 
lation affected the heart, 
to a very considerable ex- 
fatal syncope. The man 
ammonia, applied to the 
and water, afterward com- 
siderable doses internally. 
the Maories are well ac- 
ders, and have always con- 
gerous. The tufts of sedge 
upon the sea beach are the favorite haunts of the red spotted variety, and 
the natives avoid sleeping in such places. Half a stone’s throw inland, 
however, they do not fear the “Katipo,” as they call the arancad. This 
statement appears to me to throw discredit upon the entire testimony of 
the natives, for it is not possible to believe that the venomous character 
of the spider can be affected by a simple removal from the sedgy growth 
along the seashore to the herbage half a stone’s throw inland. 
Mr. Gosse* records the effect produced upon one of his servants who 
‘ Annals Entomological Society of France, 1843, page 8. 
* Insect Life, Vol. I., No. 7, pages 204-11. 
* Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 1869. 
* P. H. Gosse: Naturalist’s Sojourn in Jamaica, page 241. 
