scheme. So I constructed the luna moth advertisement to draw him,
and when I got a reply from Mr. Ross, who is a fellow-tenant of Mr.
Dorr's, the chain was complete. Now, you see where the luna moths
were useful. If I had advertised, instead of them, the
lathrodectus, he might have suspected and refrained from answering."

"What's the lathrodectus?" demanded both the hearers at once.

For answer Average Jones took a letter from his pocket and read:

BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY,
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
WASHINGTON, D. C., April 7

MR. A. V. R. JONES,

Astor Court Temple, New York City.

DEAR Sir,

Replying to your letter of inquiry, the only insect answering your
specifications is a small spider Lathrodectus mactans, sometimes
popularly called the Red Dot, from a bright red mark upon the back.
Rare cases are known where death has been caused by the bite of this
insect. Fortunately its fangs are so weak that they can penetrate
only very tender skin, otherwise death from its bite would be more
common, as the venom, drop for drop, is perhaps the most virulent
known to science.

This Bureau knows nothing of any experiments in breeding the