The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-18
VENOM IN SPIDERS.
Scientists Interested over WO-
mans Suicide.

From the Philadelphia Times
An interesting scientific question has
arisen and received considerable atten-
ton through the suicide of a woman In an
Iowa jail-the question whether or not
there is venom in the bite of all spiders.
Cora Smith, who was incarceratel in Des
Moines for murder, committed suicide by
eating large number of spiders which
she collected in her cell She took them
| day by day until she had collected
| quantity of them in handkerchief Then
| eating the mess, she died almost immedi-
| ately. Uhquestionably the spiders did
| their work, but in what manner the post
mortem failed TO entirely discover The
conclusion drawn was that all spiders are
| venomous, but whether their poison is
| effeclual when injected into the veins or
| only when swallowed is open to discussion
Generally speaking, animal poisons. like
! snake poison however deadly when intro
| duced into the veins of a human being
are absolutely harmless when swallowed
! That is the reason why person may
without risk suck the venom from
wound made by rattlesnalle or even by a
cobra, which as recognized as the most
deadly serpent in existence
The subject is exceedingly interesting
! inasmuch as scientific knowledge respect
ing this matter is conparativeIv new ana
| anybody may be exposed 10 the b;ta oe a
! spider Within the last few ytars a great
| deal of knowledge of this subject has been
| obtained and the poison glands of the
MOSQUITO and other venomous insects
| have been dissected OF co,trs, however
the spider is not an insect. from the sei4n-
tifc point of view. # is an arachnid he
longing TO a very different eroun in the
| animal kingdom. There is no doubt what
| ever that spi}ars are venoo,ous and a
few of them are danqerouslv 50 If NAV
| surprise the AVERAGE reader to learn that
! the typical poisonous s7Hler nosses.es a
| poison gland and A hollow tooth or faDe
! through which file venom Is intr,lure5
into the wound made bv the too,b The
| gland is situated nucb rs in tha rattle
| snake. the poison sac being attached to
! the root of the fans by a small tube thar
conducts the venom down the hollow
! shaft
| Here indee5 &c ora Of tbe o75eet f,ots
| of nafure-namelv. the similarity Of ar
! rangements in snake ana aranbnid far tho
| nurnose of iniactire venono II is certain
| however thar sniders do NOT ,lU,ags lIse
| their po;son in striking. they. do not ned
TO ennlov II in killing insects or,Iinari,,,
| and it would appear that The venom GLAND
! is under the control of the animal With
| 10 TottIHcn9kq pDG~a
! emf tha Do;son being injected nv tba moro
act of closing The Jews
| Some snid,,rs are very much moro mi
| sonous han others For ova1,7,,ls fbsra
| ie the la+brodectus as If is scteptifcaIly
| known WHICH fs renrosented in nearly al
narts Of the world Inv different snecies
| # has been asserted that lis venom is the
most rovyerful helongtp.r 10 any animal
IN evistarce irdainp from The effects nr--
|
| small quantity win which the creature
| is arn,ad Eor his kind of sni5ar thouob
| scarcely hioqe,. tban an ordinary neo will
| attacl, buD7a, heines on sipht lis feroc-
| itr denonds IN some extent uoon the sea
| son of tba voar however In autumn af
| ter SHINING her cocoon. the female br5ods
| over If like q bird over its Young. and is
| very fierce in defense of her eggs This
is The onIy snacica of spider native to
the tinted stones that is capahle of infl.ct-
inc a dangerous wound.
Wbeb anvhodv receives q severe insect
| MIA ,,,+ ,,.o,or1,, to he referred IN any,
| far,i1,or insect The injury is usually at
| .rit,'to5 - = sni1er thouob without any
| nar,icufar reason. The fact is that such
ro,,sterious bites are ant TO be attributa-
| HE 10 a carniyorous winged bug called
tha citrate bug" which is often found in
| du,ellines being attracted thereto by
uqbts The pirate bug infects the wound
which IL rnakes-suDposing that the ac-
! conted theory is correct-by means of
,orros which it carries on its proboscis.
Those are nntrefactive germs. and are
90 occasionally 10 cause the formation
| - an nIcer If is believed that the pi-
| - - feeds ia some extent on putrid
lats y7 and mat mis- circumstance ac-
,,,,,s En- me wounds aforesaid.
,rt,l s,,r,ntons of poisoning bv spider
| -. ,r;y44;Dase ooreoa ,ro
s,. ,l,s,,;rati op and Mains i'm the hack
Iu99 +tl,,,,a,,. sometimes svvalIov,ino
u''u sle Aa,arontI1- snider noison ie
- Nina 80 snolra noson The venom
! very slLHl'aA u 1'ie'i.~ t''