282 



reptiles, tlie malignity of tbe bite may depend upon the condition of the animal at 

 the time. With the rattlesnake, for instance, repeated use of his fangs -will exhaust 

 the supply of the poison, requiring some time for its reproduction, at which time the 

 bite will be much less venomous. 



I have written out for you my experience, thinking you may be able to make some 

 use of it in your journal. — [E. R. Corson, M. D., 158 Jones street. Savannah, Ga., 

 January 26, 1889. 



Reply. — Your long and interesting letter of January 26 has just come. The record 

 of your spider-bite cases is extremely interesting, and we will publish it in a near 

 number of Insect Life just as sent, making perhaps a few comments. It is greatly 

 to be regretted that in none of these cases was the spider seen or captured, and it 

 is also a matter of regret that you lost the specimen of the one which you think was 

 Latrodectus, and which was the biter in your sixth case. Your letter as a whole 

 affords a very strong bit of cumulative evidence. In none of the outhouse cases is it 

 probable that the Latrodectus could have been the biter, as the spiders of this genus 

 do not live in such places. There are, however, two genera, viz, Amaurobius and 

 Ccelotes, which do live in such buildings. Their species are rather large, active, 

 ferocious spiders, which spin abundant webs. The very names of two of the species of 

 Amaurobius, viz, auclax and ferox, indicate the character of the spiders. There are 

 other spiders found in ihese places, viz, the genera Tegenaria, Fholcus, Diciyna, and 

 Theridium. The first, however, is probably not the one. The second is too weak, 

 and the third is too small, and the fourth is too shy. It seems to me that the circum- 

 stances under which the bites were given in the first four cases are peculiarly favor- 

 able, as the parts injured were those which l)roke the web and which were most ex- 

 posed and which, at the same time, are perhaps the tenderest parts of the body, being- 

 filled with blood-vessels and nerves. It is truly remarkable that all of these cases 

 should have occurred in your practice so nearly together. I suppose that you have 

 not placed them on record before or you would have given us the references. If any 

 similar cases occur again in your practice or in the experience of any of your medical 

 friends I hope that you will not fail to try to secure the perpetrator of the injury. — 

 [January 30, 1889.] 



Susceptibility to Insect Poison. 



Allow me to refer to Insect Life, No. 7, page 204, instancing the cases of reputed 

 poisoning by Latrodectus mactans, where unsuspecting persons had been bitten, re- 

 sulting fatally, while so many others have been bitten without being seriously in- 

 jured, and scientific and medical men have often caused it to bite them to test 

 its power for harm The sting of the hone}" bee is not usually considered serious, 

 but an exception came directly under my observation. During the afternoon of July 

 12, 1887, I removed some sections of honey from a colony of bees, and as the basswood 

 (or linden) season was nearly finished they had but little to do but to seek revenge. 

 At 6 a. m. the next day as my mother stepped outside the door she was stung upon 

 the temple by an irate bee, while at a distance from the hive of about 100 feet. 

 At 6.30 she was taken with a fainting fit, somewhat spasmodic in its action, which 

 was followed by six others during the next hour and a half. A reclining posture and 

 a dash of cold water into the face would soon restore consciousness. Shecontinuallj' 

 insisted upon sitting up. and that she '' was better now," until at 8 o'clock, when the 

 worst symptoms began to wear away. The sting had not been removed at first 

 and was not readily found, as there was scarce any swelling or angry blotches in one 

 place more than another to be seen upon the face, and the wound itself seemed very 

 slight. The extreuuties were swollen and blotched, accompanied by a sensation as of 

 nettles, and very painful, api)arently the effect of the virus being suffused throughout 

 the entire system, whereas, when stung, the most of it (the virus) usually appears 

 to linger in the flesh round about the wound, and often causes considerable swelling 

 in the vicinit3^ 



