Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1896-02-20
lTsselTE IS DEADLY.
People eho1ld Beware Of . Pretty Yellow
Spotted Spider.

iTs.eITE IS DEADLY.
People shosld Beware Of Pretty Yellow
Spotted Spider.
Next time anybody is bitten by q
poisonous black spider" he will
confer q favor on Professor 81. q.
Behr IL he will refrain from crush
Ing it long enough to give the pro-
lessor q chance to be bitten too. He
would like to demonstrate to that
part of the public who feel finicky
about such things that the bite OF
the same poisonous black spider"
is really absolutely harmless and no
more painful than the sting OF
wasp or q mosquito or even flea OF
the California genus. Mr.. Behr Is
professor of entomology and arane-
ology and a few other sciences at the
big academy in Market street, and
what he doesn't know about insects
Of all kinds is hardly worth talking
about.
But if any one should happen to
be bitten by small "black spider"
with four or five scarlet spots on its
back he had better prepare to guz-
xle brandy for day or two while
strong armed attendant rubs am
monia into the wound with one hand
and keeps the victim from squirm-
ing with the other. The professor
calls that little spotted insect the
Latrodectes mactans and says 1t is
the most venomous of all spiders,
not even excepting the tarantula,
which is about ten times as big. 1t is
ordinarily not bigger than a French
pea, but boasts of considerably more
beauty than is commonly found
among spiders.
Its body is round and covered with
a beautiful velvety black growth of
short fuzzy hair, with the scarlet
spots aforementioned on its back.
It has eight rather long legs for such
q small body and eight eyes, though
they cannot be taken as distinguish
Ing features of this particular style,
as the professor says all spiders have
eight legs and an equal number Of
eyes. But it is by the location of the
eyes in the anatomy of the insect
that the olassihcations are made,
and as there are some 5000 or 6, 900
species known to araneologists 1t is
no small task to distinguish (which
Is which," This one, however, may
be told by the fact that four Of its
eyes are located in a squad in front,
with the remaining four grouped in
pairs on each side of its head and a
little to the rear of the others. The
eyes are bullying and CLASSY and of a
deep greenish hue. It's mandibles
are not very large, but, as many VIC
Tins can attest, are capable of doing
great damage Its action is quick
and alert.
Professor Behr laughs at the idea
that the bite of the Latrodeotes mao
tans is fatal, but he admits that the
patient suffers tho most raoking tor
lures for several days, after which,
If he has been properly treated, re.
covery is a certainty. He says that
many persons may have died from
fright, but never from the poisonous
effects of the bite. The tarantula,
which is so universally dreaded, is,
after all, according to Professor
Behr, not at all dangerous Though
its bite causes considerable pain and
swelling about the wound, he says
it is not fatal. Its bite is not nearly
30 dangerous as that of the "katipo;"
but, be that as it may, it is more
formidable and ugly looking, and
one might as we'll be poisoned as
scared to death. San Francisco Ex-
hmiuer.