imagination and terror undoubtedly account for certain general symptoms in this class of injury. colonel nicholas pike, a competent observer, records a case of a man slapping his hand down upon a window sill and feeling a lively stab in the palm. at the same moment a small spider ran across the back of his fingers and was captured. there was a distinct puncture in the hand. here, then, was a definite case, where the wound and the insect were both in evidence. but examination of the arachnid's fangs satisfied colonel pike that they were far too small and weak to penetrate the tough skin where the wound was. meantime the victim exhibited the classic symptoms of venomous poisoning: numbness, nausea, chills, and threatened collapse. a physician, being summoned, examined both the victim and the accused, and took colonel pike's view that the spider was innocent. the man was wrathful, with the indignation of terror. he said he guessed he knew whether he was bitten or not, and that the physician's business was to eschew idle speculations and go ahead and save his life if it wasn't already too late. thereupon the doctor opened up the wound and extracted a section of a fine needle. the other half was found sticking in the window sill where a careless seamstress had fixed it. the spider had been a fortuitous arrival. the man made one of the quickest recoveries recorded.
