The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-12-23
The Tarantula spider.

This name is given TO Il large spider, OBJ
served At first in the ncighborhotd Of Tar
cD,um, in Italy, and for the bite OF which
considered DOiHDnOus, music and dancing.
were Eaid " bc the remedy. Certain songs
and airs were Golcmnly used for the occa-
sion, and the tarantuln itself danced TO the
air Of the '',aran,clu." The truth is that
the bite produced disorders Of the nervous
system, with strong cOnyulsivc movements,
which was exaggerated into dancing. This
tiianrhor a"or,s IN have occurred frequently
IN the kingdom OF Naples during the six.
tecnth century, TO have hccn nearly SINH
lar in it's character to the disease which was
originally called "St. VItus' Ounce, "and tc
that which has occasionally prevailed III
parts of Scotland, and has been called the
''lcaplng aguc."
The patients, nearly all of whom were
women, g. on after beng bitten, as 1t was
supposed, used to fall into slupor from
which nothing revived them but tho sound
OF such music us pleased them, on hearing
which they had an irresistible desire to
dance. So long as the music continued,
and was intuno and sufficiently lively, they
would 90 on jumping and dancing till
they fcl] exhausted, and all the time some
used to shrek, some to laugh and sing,
some TO weep. When after short rest,
they had recovered from their fatigue,
they would agaiu begin 10 dance with as
much vigor as before, unless the music
were played slowly or cOnfuscdly, when
they would stop and grow anxious or mel
ancholy Or even if the music were not
soon made agreeable TO them, would fall
into dangerous state Of stupor. The dis
case used to last about four days, and
seemed to be cured by The profusc pcrspi
ration brought on by tho active exercise
but 1t often returned at the same time in
the following year, or even for success
sion OF years, and on every occasion re-
quircd the samc treatment. The nervous
affection was called the Taranlismus.
Since it has been found that the bite of
the tarantula can produce no such stranec
effects as these, many have suspected that
me disease ascrlDcd 10 ii never really cxis-
tea, but was feigncd for the purpose of cx
citing pity, or for the pleasure of dancing.
There |, good reason to believe that in
most lnstancesil was merely countcrfci,cd
put u ere can be no doubt that such dis.
ease has occurred, and has given occasion
10 the practice of the fraud.
The habits of tho tarantula are vcry on
rious. Its jaws and feet urc largo and
strong its legs and feet arc furnished
with long stiff spurs, with which the mil
maj selzes it's prey and its foremost two
pa,f o1 1eet are furnished with down.
IKE a brush, which the tarantula EMPLOYS
IN making its toilette, and in CRAWLING On
smooth surfaces; the feet are Terminated
ny two strong nails. When full grown
II inhabts underground passages, forming
purro" sunk to the depth of foot be.
neath the surface; and this burow not on.
~ protects the animal from tho pursuits of
ts enemies, but serves it as an Observatory
whence 1t may dart on ITS prey. At first
the nolc sinks pcrpcndicularly, thcl, bends
anu1ofms an almost horizontal elbow. after
Whicn II resumes its direction downwnrds,
At this elbow the tarantuln stands sentry
Aeycr losing sight of the door of itsdwc)linG
ana mere tho creatures eyes glitter like
aianiohds, rendered bright like those of a
cat by darkness. Externally, the opening
o1 inc tarantula's bulrow is s,irmcuntcd by
aiunne, constructed Of pieces of dry wood
un'lcd by clay, and lined with web spun
ny INC spider, which iscontiDlcd through
Inc Whole interior of tho burrow. This
prevents the fall Of earth, and enables the
'arantula by its CLAWS quickly to ascend
trscalc its fortress.
d. Leon Duf0ur has described the mode
tfhnnting the tarantula, mostly in NAV
ana June, at Valencia, In SPAN. The
Apullan peasants initiate at the mouth of
the hole the humming of an insect by
means OF an oatcn stalk, and so lure tho
tarantnla to The mouth Of the burrow, and
capture him. 1t is easily tanned. NJ. Du.
,rput two full.grown and very vigorous
Q tarantulas together in glass vase,
and then witnessed combat fought with
aonde'ful strategy, until the ferocious
vanquisi.er MORALLY wounded Ills enemy
head and then dcvourcd him.