These accounts are sufficiently circumstantial and well authenticated, but the fact of the actual bite depends upon the statement of the victims alone, and they may possibly have mistaken the cause of their trouble. Southern Europe possesses a congener of this spider in _Latrodectus 13–guttatus_, the well-known “Malmignatte,” which is also considered extremely poisonous. The Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery at Barcelona appointed Dr. Graells, in 1833, to inquire into the effects of the bite of this spider, cases of which had become exceedingly frequent. He found a curious correspondence between the frequency of these cases and the advent of migratory locusts, which the spider successfully attacked. In his report[286] he details the symptoms in certain unquestionably authentic cases. There was a double puncture, surrounded by red circles, the region of the wound afterwards swelling greatly. The pain and swelling extended over the whole limb, and often to the body, and convulsions occurred, followed by great prostration and collapse. All the patients eventually recovered, their cure being heralded by profuse perspiration. It must be mentioned, however, that the eminent Arachnologist M. Lucas states that he has several times allowed himself to be bitten by this identical spider without any ill effects. The testimony is thus conflicting in this case also. It is impossible, however, to believe that there is no basis in fact for the poisonous reputation of a comparatively insignificant-looking spider in so many widely separated parts of the world, supported as it is by certain well-substantiated cases. The variable effects of its bite may find a partial explanation in a variation in the strength of its venom at different seasons, and it has already been mentioned that the injection of poison into its victim is a voluntary act, and does not necessarily accompany its bite. Among the species regarded as especially venomous must be mentioned _Phidippus morsitans_, one of the larger of the Attidae. It is exceedingly likely that the bite of the large tropical Aviculariidae is really formidable. They appear, however, more anxious to escape than to show fight, and we possess little reliable information with regard to them. Doleschall shut up small birds with two West Indian species, and death followed their bite almost immediately. Ten days’ starvation appeared to weaken the venom, for a bird bitten by a spider fasting for that period recovered after an indisposition of six hours.