Vol. I, i\o.9.] INSECT LIFE. [J^Iaicii, I§89. 



SPECIAL NOTES. 



Poisonous Bites.— We would call especial attention to the long and in- 

 * teresting letter from Dr. E. R. Corson on spider bites, which we publish 

 on page 280, and which is an important contribution to the discussion of 

 the subject. Dr. Corson is an old acquaintance and a former collector of 

 insects. He is a most reliable observer. We hope that our article in the 

 January number will reach the eyes of other physicians, who will be able 

 to add similar cases from their own practice. We also publish a letter 

 from Mr. E. W. Allis bearing upon the same article, and may state iu 

 this connection that the views which he presents are practically those 

 suggested by us in our article upon poisonous insects, published in Vol- 

 ume V of the Eefereuce Handbook of the Medical Sciences (Philadel- 

 phia, 1887). We have stated upon page 741 of that volume that the 

 eft'ects of insect poisons depend in great measure upon the idiosj^ncracy 

 of the individual and upon the state of health and constitution. 



Cranberry Fungus Gall.— We also publish, under the head of " General 

 !Niotes," an interesting communication from Dr. Fr. Thomas, of Ohrdruff, 

 Germany, relative to the Cranberrj^ Gall mentioned upon page 112 of 

 the current volume of Insect Life. Specimens of this gall were sent 

 to Dr. Thomas, and his remarks are authoritative. The determination 

 of the gall as of Phytoptus origin was made by our assistants during our 

 absence in Europe, and while we should have been more cautious had we 

 seen the specimens, the error is a very pardonable one, as the resem- 

 blance to many other Phytoptus galls is striking. This is one of the few 

 instances where a fungus has been mistaken for insect work, while our 

 mycological friends have often been caught napping in mistaking and 



even describing as of fungus origin structures due to insects. 



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