The toxic qualities of the spider that is known as Latrodectus mactans are not, I believe, generally known. An appropriate name for the spider would be the "T and dot" spider, as the specimen I have seen was coal black with a red T and red dot.
Some weeks ago I was called to see a man who, pulling on his boot, had pressed on one of these spiders with the side of his foot. The spider's bite at the time caused him but little pain or inconvenience. About twenty-five minutes after being bitten, however, acute and agonizing pains occurred all over the body, being particularly severe in the region of the chest. Aqua ammoniæ was applied locally and also administered, well diluted, internally, and previous to my arrival the patient had taken considerable whisky. Morphin sulphate, strychnin sulphate and nitroglycerin were administered hypodermically, and while the latter two drugs