210 



leg's, and that there are two varieties, one of a dark glossy browo or 

 black color, and the other similar, except for a red spot upou the abdo- 

 men. Of the immaculate variety he says : 



The abdomen is perfectly spherical, like a No. 1 shot, aad very glossy ; the legs are 

 compact, uot straggling. It is found among dead wood in the garden, with a slight 

 web ; amongst the rafters of an out-building. The natives have no distinguishing 

 name for either variety ; they are both called " Katipo," to distinguish them from the 

 ^' Punga-were-were," the common spider. 



Mr. Wright gives a number of cases, from hearsay, of fatal bites by 

 the red-spotted variety, and describes a serious case in his own i:>ractice, 

 which, however, did uot result in death. Mr. Wright, in all of the cases 

 which he mentions, seems to have considered that the simple word of 

 the patient that he was bitten by this spider is sufficient. He evidently 

 has no doubt that it was the spider which produced the result. The 

 circumstances of the case which came under his own notice are worth 

 quoting in full: 



In the month of December, 1868, a person of the name of John Huff, living near my 

 residence, came into the surgery complaining that he had been bitten on the shoulder 

 by a spider. He was in the employment of Messrs. Archard & Brown, of Stanley 

 Street, Mechanics' Bay. He was occupied at the time in carrying fire-wood to sup- 

 XJly the furnaces of a brick-kiln : the wood was stacked near the kiln in sedge or 

 coarse grass; this happened between the hours of 11 and 12 o'clock a.m. At noon 

 he came home to dinner, sat down to table, but upon attempting to eat found he 

 could not open his mouth, or was scarcely able to articulate, in consequence of 

 stiffness about the jaws. He was alarmed, and came into the s.irgery, when it was 

 difticult to understand what he had to say. All I could learn from him was that 

 he had been bitten by a spider on the shoulder, in the bay. Upon examining the 

 spot, I found the surface raised to an extent as large round as a tea-cup; this ele- 

 vated surface was white, and was surrounded by a halo of red, not unlike an exag- 

 gerated wheal of the nettle-rash. He complained of considerable pain in the part, and 

 during the examination became faint, and soon almost pulseless. His pulse was un- 

 usually slow, scarcely counting more than twelve or fourteen beats in the minute. 

 His countenance and the general surface of the body assumed a hue of extreme pallor, 

 which gradually turned to a blue tint. His extremities were cold and ilaccid ; his 

 resjpiration almost ceased; and indeed I had fears that he was about to expire. Dr. 

 Pinching being in my house at the time, I called for his assistance. He was aston- 

 ished at the feebleness and prostration of the patient from such an apparently tri- 

 fling cause. 



From his extreme faintness it was necessary to lay him on the floor, when I applied 

 spirits of ammonia to the wound, which had the efifect of lessening the swelling and 

 abating the j)ain. I also administered ammonia and water, afterwards combined 

 with brandy, in considerable doses; under this treatment his pulse gradually im- 

 proved, his circulation and respiration became more natural, as was evidenced by his 

 return to a more natural color. Although a stout, strong man, this state of depres- 

 sion remained for upwards of two hours before he was able to return home. In the 

 evening I found him considerably improved, having taken a slight dose of medicine. 

 For several days he could not return to his work, but complained of great lassitude 

 and nervous depression, which he was sensible of for many daj'S after. 



It must be evident, from the symptoms of this case, that the man was powerfully 

 affected by a narcotic and irritating poison, which, being absorbed into circulation, 

 a'ffect(Hl the heart, brain, and nervous system to a very considerable extent, almost 

 amounting to fatal syncope ; that the stimulants, by exciting the heart's action, gradu- 



