489 



He went to bed but woke np his wife about 4 a. m., sayinj; that his arm was very 

 painful. 8ho h)oked at his arm, aud states that at this time there was a spot about 

 the size of a shilling or a little larger, which was red aud swollen. The redness and 

 swelling continued to increase from that time until his admission. He was seen by 

 Dr. McCarthy some days after this, who prescribed poultices aud Turkish baths. At 

 the time of admission, as I have already stated, he was in a very weak condition. 

 His temperature was 103 aud there was great depression of the vital powers. This, 

 however, I ascribe to the erysipelas. His pulse was 120, very weak. His weakness 

 rapidly increased, and the pulse became more frequent, and on the 2d of February 

 diarrhoea set in. This contined until the time of death. The erysipelas also con- 

 tinued to spread, so that towards the end it extended beyond the shoulder on to the 

 neck and back of the shoulder. Oii the 3d of February I made several incisions in the 

 forearm and upper arm, giving escape to a quantity of acrid, watery pus. Before death 

 'a large part of the skin on the inner sides of the forearm aud upper arm mortified. 

 Several muscles in both these regions also mortified. 



With regard to his state of health at the timeof the accident, his wife states that he 

 was quite well. The post-mortem examination, however, proved that he was not so, 

 and I have good authority for saying that he was a chronic drunkard. The bite was 

 on the back of the left forearm and close to its radial side, and about one inch above 

 the wrist. 



What the immediate symptoms were, I can not say. His wife states that at 10 p. 

 m., on his coming home, he had some pain at the part, but there is no history of con- 

 vulsions or tetanic spasms at this time. Dr. McCarthy states that at the time he first 

 saw him there were spasmodic convulsions of the muscles of the arm, but for this I 

 can not vouch. 



He was bitten on the 2l8t of January. The post mortem showed mortification of a 

 large part of the skin of the front of the forearm and on the inner aspect of the upper 

 arm, also mortification of several muscles in both these regions. His liver was in an 

 advanced state of disease (cirrhosis) due to long-continued intemperance. A.11 the 

 other organs were in a fairly healthy condition. 



The treatment consisted of the ordinary remedies for erysipelas. The parts were 

 also bathed with alkaline solutions. Poultices were applied, and stimulants (brandy) 

 freely used. There seemed to have no beneficial effect uj)on the course of the disease. 



As regards the nature of the poison I have no opinion to ofi"er. It was a full week 

 after the receipt of the injury before I saw him, so that I did not observe the primary 

 symptoms. 



I do not think that death would have ensued had not erysipelas set in. I do not, 

 however, give a positive opinion upon this point, as I know nothing about the Kat- 

 ipo poison. I, however, feel quite sure that the bite was the starting point of the 

 disease and that its effects were aggravated by the low state of health of the patient. 

 You will thus see that my opinion is that death was indirectly caused by the spider 

 bite. 



I am yours, very truly, 



J. EWART, M. D. 



OBITUARY. 



Henry Edwards. — Henry Edwards, the weil-known writer upon 

 Lepidoptera, died June 9, 1891, at his home in New York City. He 

 was born at Ross, Herefordshire, England, August 27, 1830. In his 

 early manhood, which was spent in Loudon as an actor, he began the 

 study of entomology. Attracted, probably, by the entomological novel- 

 ties to be collected in that then almost unknown country, in 1853 he 

 went to Australia. In 1-^65 he removed to California, in 1878 to Bos- 

 ton, and in 1879 to New York. He was for some time president of the 

 New York Entomological Club, and was one of the founders of Papilio 

 and its tirst editor. In the summer of 1889 he went to Australia, 



