The Effects of the Bite of Latrodectus mactans Fabr.

Abstract

References in literature, popular as well as scientific, concerning the supposed effects of the bite of the so-called Black Widow, are very commonly met with. These accounts are as numerous as they are varied. It is perhaps not underestimating the value of this literature to say that it is all circumstantial evidence. Some of the evidence is fairly good as such, some of it obviously not to be relied upon. Kobert has made extensive experiments with the poison of the European species, L. erebus, using an extract that presumably contained the active principle of the poison. Although his results show conclusively that the spider possesses a substance that acts as a virulent poison to various small animals, such as cats, dogs, guinea pigs, etc., yet they do not, so far as I can see, tell us anything in regard to the effect of the bite of that spider. To my knowledge, there is no record of a successful attempt to obtain direct evidence on the effects of the bite, either on animals or man. This paper is an account of some observations * on the effect of the bite of Latrodectus mactans on young rats and on man.