Wichita eagle., 1889-02-28

preston In the flesh with my thumb.
70. The man had been living with me for
| nine years and was perfectly healthy.
'b. He could handle poison oak or ivy with
impunity.
-. He was bitten on the 10Th Of October,
1857. He was hauling wood at the time. 1t
was damp, cold morning and he could not
have been overheated. As soon as the SEN
sation OF pain had passed off the man felt no
further inconvenience till toward the middle
of the day. (He described the pain from
the sting as somewhat similar to the sting of
a wasp About II 80 o'clock he came to the
house and told me that he had been bitten
by spider l treated the matter lightly,
thinking ne would have been dead by that
time if it 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 dlstant), saying he was going to
get whisky. About one o'clock he came
home; said he felt no better; said the pain
had settled in his bowels. In short while
he commenced to have spasms. (He told me
ne had only bought five cents worth Of corn
wmsky.) When the spasm came on was
greatly frightened. AS knew of no rem
edy but whisky 1 gave it to him. In all
gave him three half pints. He seemed re-
some work about the barn. About four
o'clock the pains came on again and the
ST lsms with them. He had only two spasms
He never recovered from the second one,
but remained in state of uncons seriousness
till his death
Il have another man working for me
VINO was bitten by one Of the spiders about
three years ago. l showed 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 a spider bite is
rather peculiar, | VIII give it to you as ne
has told me. He was at work in a corn
field about the middle of June. 1t was the
afternoon of the day. He went to a spring
neIr by for a drink of water While rest
ing moment at the spring the spider bit
hlm on the ankle. he spit tobacco Juice on
the sting and soon felt no pam He de-
scrlbes the pain from the sting as more like
brier scratch.) He resumed the work
but IN an hour or 80 felt sudden shock of
pam run through his whole body As one
shock would pass off another would come on.
He unhitched his horse and attempted to
ride home, but soon fell Off the horse in an
unconscious condition. HIS employer found
him by the roadside 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
pam. The only remedy he knew of was
whisky. He gave the negro three plnts
and 1t had no intoxicating effects The
negro had spasms one after another for
several days. 1t was three weeks before
he stopped having them, and it was two
months before he was able to do any work.
he has not entirely recovered yet. When
ever he becomes oyerheated he has to stop
work, he has numb sensation pass over
him His ankle did not swell at all. These
same kind of pimples which l noticed on
the neck of the man shat died appeared on
his ankle, and break out afresh every time
he becomes overheatHd from exercise"
Prof. Riley, after a careful examination
of the findings OF entomologists in all other
countries, says: at must be admitted that
certain spiders OF the genus La rodectus
have the power to infict poisonous bites,
which may probably exceptionally and de-
pending upon exceptional condltions) bring
about the death of a human being.n
The professors conclusion IS the more
notable from the fact that there exists gen.
eral incredulity among entomologists and
arachnologists upon the subject of fatal
SPIDER bites.
Prof. Riley Hurther says: Admitting In
its fullest force the argument that in re-
ported cases the spider has seldom if ever
been seen by "a reliable observer to infict
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
Gus species, when there is nothing specially
dangerous in their appearance, is the
for believing that these
statements have some notification in fact.
1t Is no wonder that a popular fear should
follow the Notwithstanding spiders of the
family IheraphosoldR; but, considering the
comparatively small size and modest color
ing of the species of Latrodectus, so wide
spread prejudice occurring in so many
distinct localities must be well founded"