Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-05-03
VENoMous SPIDERS.

Interesting Investigations Made by tho Government Entomoaogist. 1 According to tho Washington correspond 1 ent of the St Louis Globe Democrat, Prof. .. V. Riley, the Government Entomologist, has been Investigating the poisonous power l Of the common large brown spider. En- tomoiogically this spider is known us the Latrodectus mactans. The case of which the professor has made special study oc- cured near Greensboro, N. c. Colonel Thomas B. Keogh, well-known resident of that State, sent on the spider which did the biting, and the statement of the case is fur nished by Mir. John M. Dick in reply to Prof.
 Riley's categorical inquiries. MT. Dick re- 1 ports as follows:
 "l. No one was with the man when he was bitten. All we know Is his own state ment- He said he felt something crawling on his neck; as he brushed it of it stung or
 bit him very severely. As the pain was very great. he looked to see what had caused 1t. He described the insect as @ black spider with a red spot on 1t.
 '2 He was bitten about half-past eight o'clock a. m. and died between ten and eleven o'clock p. m., about fourteen hours intervening.
 "a examined his neck and found about ten little white pfmples, all of which could be covered with one-dollar silver coin. I 60W no pOncCure Of any kind.
 There was no swelling at all, but his neck and left breast and arm became hard, so much so that could not make an i'm pression in the flesh with my thumb. b. The man had been living with me for | nine years and was perfectly healthy
 "6 He could handle poison oak or ivy with impunity.
 ''7 He was bitten on the 18th of October, 1SS7. He was hauling wood at the time. It was damp, cold morning and he could not have been overloaded. As soon as the sen- sataon of pain had passed of the man felt no 1urther inconvenience till toward the middle of the day. Gle described the pain from the sting as somewhat similar to the.sting of l wasp.) About Il 80 o'clock he came to the house and told me that he had been bitten by spider. I treated the matter lightly, thinking he would have been dead by that tune If 1t was going to hurt him at all, but he complained of pains running through his whole body. Finally he went to town (only one mile distant), saying he was going to get whisky. About one o'clock he came homo; said he felt no better; said the pain had settled in his bowels. In short while he commenced to have spasms. (He told me he had only bought i've cents worth of corn Whlsky.) When the spasm came on was greatly frightened. As knew of no rem edy but whisky I gave it to him. In all | gave him three half pints. He seemed re- heved of pain about three o'clock and did some work about the barn. About four o'clock the pains came on again and the spasms with them He had only two spasms. He never recovered from the second one, but remained in 8 state of uncon sciousness till his death
 T have another man working for me who was bitten by one of the spiders about three years go. Ishowed him the spider which Colonel Keogh forwarded to you, and ae recognized 1t at once as being exactly like the one which had bitten him. As this mans experience with spider bite is rather peculiar, will give it to you as be has told me. He was at work in Q corn field about the middle of June It was the afternoon of the day. He went to a spring near by for drink of water. While rest ing moment at the spring the spider bit him on the ankle. He spit tobacco juice on the sting and socn felt no pam Gle de- scrlbes the pain from the sting as more like brier scratch.) He resumed the work but in an hour or SO felt @ sudden shock of pam run through his whole body. As one shock would pass of another would come on He unhitched his horse and attempted to ride home, but soon fell of the horse in an unconscious condition. Ills employer found him by the road side and& had him taken home. This gentleman has since told me the negro seemed perfectly crazy. He told what had bitten him between spasms of pain The only remedy he knew of was whisky. He gave the negro three pints and 1t had no intoxicating effects. The negro had spasms one after another for several days. It was three weeks before he stopped having them, and 1t was two months before he was able to do any work ae has not entirely recovered yet When. ever he becomes overheated he has to stop work He has numb sensation pass over him. His ankle dld not swell at alt These same kind of pimples which ! noticed on tho neck Of the man that died appeared on has ankle, and break out afresh every time he becomes overloaded from exercise"
 Prof. Riley, after careful examination of the findings of entomologists in all other countries, says: Ut must be admitted that certain spiders of the genus La rodectus have the power to inflict poisonous bites which may (probably exceptionally and de- pending upon exceptional condftions) bring about the death of a human being."
 The professors conclusion is the more notable from the fact that there exists gen. eral incredulty among entomologists and arachnologists upon the subject of fatal spider bites.
 i Prof. Riley further says: Admitting in its fullest force the argument that in re- ported cases the spider has seldom if ever been seen by reliable observer to inflict the wound, we consider the fact that species of Latodectus occurring in such widely dis. tant localities as South Europe, the South. ern United States and New Zealand, are uniformly set aside by the natives as poison. ous species, when there Is nothing specially dangerous in their appearance, is the ,strongeetargumentf for believing that these statements have some verification in fact. It IS no wonder that a popular fear should follow the ferocioYs-looki spiders of the family Theraphosdde; but considering the comparatively small size and modest color ling of the species of Latrodectus, so wide spread a prejudice occurring in so many distinct localities must be well founded"
 Tho Love of Children.
 Tell me notof the trim. precisely arranged homes where are DO children; "where," as the good Germans have it, ''the fly-traps always hang straight on the wall" Tell me not of the never disturbed nights and days, of the tranquil, unanxicus hearts where children arc not I care not for these things. God sends children for another purpose than merely to keep up the race-to enlarge otir hnarfa fO Dnafya f,sb f,,1lo oF1