Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-10

eii VI theHl III one room, all oi Whlch
Would Woleld come to him to be fed. He was a sci
entlhe man, and at first used TO have only one
OF Two IN a box, so that he might always have
supply. of their silk to mark of the very
minute divisions on an instrument called a
'mlcrometer," but by degrees he became fond
Of them for their own sake. The people in
Taiscr.'
Iarantulas have hairy legs and bodies, and
are re, certainly not very pretty to look at.
Ihere are great many different varieties
ana their color is generally red, reddish
prown or black. dare say you may have
heard OF the superstition that people 60 mad
ana dance when they are bitten by them, be-
ing only cured by music This is all nom
sense, OF course. The idea was first started
az az the place we have already mentioned
| laramie. lmpostors pretended to be bitten
and capered about and persuaded nervous
people VINO really were-or fancied they were
spider bitten, to dance wildly to the strains
Of exciting music. &s the poor wretches be-
came exhausted, and their movements grew
feeble, so the music would become more sooth-
ing ana gentle, and when at last they dropped
with fatigue, all danger was declared TO have
been charmed" away. A very rapid kind of
music and dance called the "tarantella' has
taken its name from this.
tired for long time to get live taran-
una una spider, to bring home for the Geological
difheult are they to catch that was irving
III VAN tor several years in different parts
Of the world, though l was closer to them
than rellshed more than once
| remember, one dreadfully hot night was
lying awake in little palm-thatched Int in
costa hica. My bed consisted of grass mat
stretched on some boards, which were laid
across Two trestles, so as to form sort of
taoIe' bedciothes were out of the question in
that sweltering heat which seemed to stean1
up from the swamp outside. Indeed I had n
ian instead. Over me was mosquito curtain.
Whcn, perhaps you know, is made of coarse
muslin or net, and is so arranged as to keen
on Ihe mosquitoes from the sleeper, who lies
IN a KIND of tent or bower The worst of IL
is that you generally manage to shut in one
mosquito with you in getting into bed and
VhaT one torments you as much as a dozen.
however, did not care for mosquitoes par
.aet i,y, Dut L tucked In my curtains-or
Dars, as they call them out there-securely
under my mat all around, as soon as was in
si9e, 1or the whole place-the damn earth ON
wnich the hut was raised, the rough log walls
ana ;nn s vns dry palm-leaves overhead-was creep
ing and rustling with crawling things NOT fo
mention what might stroll in at any moment
from the lagoon and Jungle.
cloud of insects buzzed and hummed in
the siinmering arr while every now and then
Ion,e boo', winged W aoomnation of the night would
poom In at the doorway, take turn and ont
agaln, or worse, would stop in sudden. mys-
ferrous silence, somewhere close at hand
u was the sitting heat that made sleep
h,i hfniipqsslDiei and was longing for the bliss
W
grows little cooler, and the nigbf insects
go home before the day tribe make their
appearance. ' ''ieii
| had a dim candle burning in n lantern
swung above, and had just laid back after
making an effort to read. for the twentieth
tune, when, to my dismay, beheld gigantic
marry tarantula, just on a level with nv face
and within three inches of it, only outside the
curtain, fortunately.
:, Up 1t came, very slowly as if exploring.
It's suited legs appearing to stick in the mus
In as IT stalked along, right up to the top.
Sdeons ders IN P&bGsed PAU sm@o looking douby grim and
light. Then it crossed over and as sioIgiy
descended on the other side until Il Dasaed
out OF sight, which was far more uncomfort
able than having it in view, one never know
ing eAactly where it was, how close to
one, or where it might turn ND next
About three years ago 1 succeeded in oet,;,,o
q Ive specimen at last, or rather three Of
them, all together, in nice box fronted n,;th
wire netting. bought them from native
VINO sens cigars and walkingsticks on the
mar Market wharf IN Bahia, pronounced Bah-ee-a
on the coast of Brazil. 1 had commssoned
this, fellow long before to get me some Int
he had often promised and failed me with
snakes, rare monkeys and other animals. that
DID Sdrn not trDt, believe eve, he would;
tarantulas, though by no means as bio as ',rv ,ny
Costa Rican visitor 90 my
For some time after they commenced tbe;r
voyage they ate nothing. though I nnt A;as
and cockroaches into their cage Thppn "les re-
tered them bits of fresh killed raw beef which
they seemed to suck; and then, as if this
one killed the other two, and Sucked t6eno
TIL only the dry shells were left Of them
bloating itself out visibly in the process :"
When 1t began to get cold I filed ND the