Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1893 — Yucatan's Deadly Spider. [ARTICLE]

Yucatan's Deadly Spider.

A sailor on a coasting vessel which plies, betweon Galveston, Texas, and ports on the Gulf of Mexico has some very interesting specimens which he secured on the coast of Yucatan. Among them is a largo jar filled with enormous spiders, which ho says are looked upon with the greatest fear by the Indians of the central portion of that country, and which are undoubtedly the largest ever seen. Tho body of the spider is fully five inches in diameter and his legs are short and thick, being especially adapted for running and climbing. They are about two inches long and are as big around as an ordinary lead pencil. Tho animal is of a grayish brown color, but is most peculiarly marked by deep rod bands whioh oross its body, extending clear around from shoulder to hip, crossing each other in the middle of the back and the body. Tho head is so large that the details can readily be seen, and even tho dead ones had such a ferocious aspect that they caused a feeling of fear. The coloring is peculiarly adapted to the country, for the body is like the earth, while tho red bands are like many of the creoping vines, whioh abound among the rocks of the interior. The fierceness of the insect and tho marking on tho back have induced tho Indians to name it tho “Devil’s Soldier,” and they say that it is undoubtedly' the worst foe to man in the whole country, making it almost impossible for any one to go into the interior, for they abound to such an extent that no place is free from them, and tho bite is certain death. Only one instauco is known to the Indians whore a man has been bitten and did not die, and this man was wildly insane ever afterward. The spider makes its homo in tho rocks and when unything approaches it rushes boldly out and makes such a fierce attack that it is almost impossible to eseapo it. It runs with groat rapidity, and climbs sticks and trees as easily as if it wore on tho ground.