The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-08
Poison of Spider Bites.


Poison of Spider Bites.
The most frequent question has been
in relation to the poisonous nature of
the bite of the tarantula. 1t is undoubt-
edly poisonous. Most insect and spider
bites are. more or less so, while the
sting of the scorpion causes infiamma-
tion and sometimes rather serious trou-
bile. But, in general, the evil effects at
tributed TO spider bites may be said to
be entirely OyerdTaWn. For though
birds shut up with the large tropical
spider Mygale, corresponding 2 to our
lion spider, died in a few seconds after
being bitten, yet DoleschaU, who was
bitten IN the finger by a jumping spider,
felt the pain for only a few minutes,
though the hand and arm We're famed
for a little time. Bertkau relates that
the bites of spiders on his hands were
similar in results to those of mosqui-
toes. Blackwell made several large spi-
ders bite his hand and arm, and at the
same time prtcked himself with a
needle. There was no perceptible diff
ference between the prick of the needle
and the bites Of the spider. So far the
books. The writer hears that people
on the isthmus and in Mexico are often
bitten by spiders large and small with
out fatal or even serious results, but
that some persons are laid up temper
arily by deep stings of the whip scor-
pion, the bite OF which, in popular ira
dition, is reputed to cause immediate
death. e
One OF our taTTantulas escaped at the
Training school causing needless alarm
among the children till they were told
that the creature is we'll nigh harm
less. Spiders are poisonous, TO be sure,
he 81 of "a having
its point a small hole, which is the
outlet OF the poison gland. The poison
is strong enough to kill or disable the
insecrs captured for food, but the eff
feet on the human skin varies with
different persons. Some times" says
,Emerton, 'it has no effect at all: Oft
ener IT causes some soreness and itch
ing like the stings of mosquitoes and
bees, and cases have been known in
which IL caused serious Inflammation
which lasted a long time" The same
authority says that spiders seldom bite
and only i'm self-defense, the bites so
commonly charged to them being often
the work of other animals. From all
that the writer can learn, the SUPPOSE
ton that the bite of the taratula is
fatal or especially. dangerous is specu-
jation; though the effects of the bite
are likely to increase with the size or
ther south being more troublesome and
VenomOus than the northern members
of the genus.
European Spider Traditions.
According to European tradition the
bite OF the tarantula of southern Eu-
rope was followed by dire effects.
1t was remarked in the last article
that our lion spider Eurypelmus hent-
iii, is entirely different from the true
European tarantuIa or wolf spider. The
latter was named from Tarentum,
Italy, where il is found abundantly
According to Italian folk lore the bite
of the tarantula would be speedily ia
tai unless an the tOwnspeODle should
drop their work and engage in behalf
OF the sufferer. in an all-night dance
The soiree was supposed to eXOreise
away the evil effects of the poison upon
the person bitten. 1t is now thought
that the bite of the tarantula produced
a kind of hysteria in the patient and
that the dance might have originated
from sympathetic imitation of the pa
TENTS movements.
AS to the story of the duel between
our tarantula hawk and the great west
ern spider, the facts there stated are
capable of tolerably easy VerificatiOn
These two magnificent species offer a
fine field for observation and excellent
topics for school compositions.
The Trap Door Spiders.
have said that the tarantula lives
in a silk-lined burrOw similar to the
one in which he is finally eaten in case
he encounters the tarantula hawk.
Other members of his family not only
dig holes and line them with silk but
construct trap-doors for these burrows,
closing them from within after they
enter the burrow. PachylomeruS a
genus common in New Mexico, Cali
fornia and Arizona, digs its hole in a
fine soil which becomes hard as a brick
when dry. The holes may be nearly an
inch in diameter and from several
inches to a foot in depth. A cover is
made of dirt fastened together with
threads and lined with silk. When in
its home the spider holds this lid so
tightly closed that the lid will break
before it will open.
Prof. Chamberlin kept one of the
trap-door spiders in captivity. 1t soon
made a burrow. Then it covered with