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.