208 



On the same page Mr. Lucas aunounced that he had studied the 

 habits of the same insect in Algeria, where it is frequently found. He 

 states that he never observed that its bite was venomous and that he 

 had himself been bitten several times without any bad effects. 



Walckenaer, Histoire ^N'aturelle des Insectes — Aj)t6res (Paris, 1837, p. 

 177 et seq.), makes the following statements: 



However violent may be the effect of the venom which a spider injects into the 

 puncture which it makes in the body of an insect which it seizes, this venom in the 

 largest species in the north of France produces no effect u^^on man. I have allowed 

 myself to be bitten by the largest species of spiders around Paris without consequent 

 swelling or reddening. Tnese small punctures have given me no other sensation than 

 would have been produced by a pin or a needle which I had stuck into my finger. 

 In fact, the venom of a spider has not even as great an effect upon man as that of a 

 wasp, a bee, a bed-bug, a flea, and even still smaller insects. We see people not un- 

 commonly who have probably been bitten by some one of these insects and who 

 attribute the consequent results to the bite of the spider because it is often the first 

 insect which they see when they find themselves awakened in the night by the pain. 

 The spider, frightened by the unexpected approach of some person or by a light, runs 

 to hide itself and thus has all the appearance of a culprit. 



In warm climates, where very large spiders are found, the bite may be stronger and 

 in consequeuce more painful, and, in time of extreme heat, with unhealthy persons, 

 the slight inflammation which results from the bite may produce fever, and fever 

 may bring about delirium without the action of any poison. It is thus that we 

 explain the extraordinary efl'ect attributed to the Tarantula de la Pouille and of the 

 Lalrodectus malmigniaius in the island of Corsica. The facts, from my point of view^ 

 have been greatly exaggerated : the observations upon which they are founded are 

 all old, and even at the time when they made the most noise several judicious 

 observers have treated them as fables. * * * [Here follows a short account of the 

 Tarantula mentioned above. ] They attribute to the Latrodecins mahnhjniaius of Sardi- 

 nia the same effects as to the Tarantula. The species of this genus are, however, 

 much smaller, but in America as in Europe they are considered venomous. 



Azara has had several of his negroes bitten by the great Mygale avicnlaria of South 

 America. He remarks that a fever of twenty hours' duration often results from these 

 bites, and that it is sometimes accompanied by a little delirium, but that it never has 

 serious results. 



Again, in treating of the " Malmigniatte " under his specific descrip- 

 tion, Walckenaer says : 



This species is believed to be very venomous. Its bite causes with man, so it is said, 

 pains and even fever. Mr. Luigi Totti, physician of the Madeleine Hospital at Vol- 

 terra, in a long memoir which he has sent to us, confirms all that has been said about 

 the effects produced by this spider by Boccone, Keyskr, Rossi, and others, although its 

 mandibles are not very large and it is Jiot large itself. Moreover, Mr. Abbot, who was 

 ignorant of what had been written in Europe upon the genus, saj's of all three specie* 

 which he has figured, that their bite is renowned in America; so the fact is certain. 

 ' * * Mr. A. Cauro, of Ajaccio, Doctor of Medicine, in a thesis entitled " Explana- 

 tion of the methods of curing the bite of the Theridion malmif/niaitc, Paris, 1833," page 

 6, says: " It appears that the venomous character of Theridion mahni(jniatte is not set- 

 tled, because all naturalists avoid saying that they believe that its bite is very dan- 

 gerous. It is certain, very certain, that it is very dangerous in Corsica; perhaps it 

 may bo fatal under some conditions." Mr. Cauro gives in detail the effects of this 

 bite, whk)h resemble, hersays, those of the bite of the viper; but Mr. Cauro, as well as 



