"At the moment of the bite, the sensation was sharp enough to deserve the
name of pain; and this continued for five or six minutes more, but not so
forcibly. I might compare it with the sensation produced by the stinging-
nettle. A whitish tumefaction almost immediately surrounded the two pricks;
and the circumference, within a radius of about an inch, was coloured an
erysipelas red, accompanied by a very slight swelling. In an hour and a
half, it had all disappeared, except the mark of the pricks, which
persisted for several days, as any other small wound would have done. This
was in September, in rather cool weather. Perhaps the symptoms would have
displayed somewhat greater severity at a warmer season."

Without being serious, the effect of the Segestria's poison is plainly
marked. A sting causing sharp pain and swelling, with the redness of
erysipelas, is no trifling matter. While Duges' experiment reassures us in
so far as we ourselves are concerned, it is none the less the fact that the
Cellar Spider's poison is a terrible thing for insects, whether because of
the small size of the victim, or because it acts with special efficacy upon
an organization which differs widely from our own. One Pompilus, though
greatly inferior to the Segestria in size and strength, nevertheless makes
war upon the Black Spider and succeeds in overpowering this formidable
quarry. This is Pompilus apicalis, VAN DER LIND, who is hardly larger than
the Hive-bee, but very much slenderer. She is of a uniform black; her wings
are a cloudy brown, with transparent tips. Let us follow her in her
expeditions to the old wall inhabited by the Segestria: we will track her
for whole afternoons during the July heats; and we will arm ourselves with
patience, for the perilous capture of the game must take the Wasp a long
time.

The Spider-huntress explores the wall minutely; she runs, leaps and flies;