UNCONSCIOUS IN TWO MINUTES

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 255, 27 September 1928, Page 3

UNCONSCIOUS IN TWO MINUTES

BITTEN BY SPIDER. Motumaoho Farmer’s Experience. Through being bitten by a venomous spider a young man, Mr. Ron. McLeod, farmer, of Motumaoho, was rendered unconscious on Saturday, and his condition was so serious that he had to be removed to a private hospital in Morrinsville.

Mr. McLeod had entered the Motu--1 maoho store and was chatting for a few minutes when he felt a sharp twinge behind the right ear. He put his hand up and brushed an insect on to the counter. It was a small spider, dark in colour and in size no bigger than a threepenny piece. Thinking nothing of the incident, he did not take particular notice of the spider, but brushed it on to floor and squashed it. He then walked outside to step to his waggon. Feeling faint he turned to walk the dozen paces back to the store to sit down. His face felt hot and swollen, and his mouth dry, while there was a numbed sensation in the right arm and he was unable to see. Reaching the seat he sat down and had no sooner done so than he collapsed.

Only two minutes had elapsed between the time of being bitten and the lapse into unconsciousness. Dr. Bernstein was immediately summoned from Morrinsville, and he revived the man after he had been unconscious for half an hour, and ordered his removal to a private hospital. Mr. McLeod had recovered sufficiently to enable him to be taken to his home on Tuesday.

The point immediately arose whether the spider was New Zealand’s only deadly spider (the katipo), but subsequent investigations proved that it was no more than an ordinary spider. It is not known that some people are susceptible to the bite of an ordinary spider, but, though cases are rare there are instances on record. The katipo cannot be mistaken. It is black in colour and no bigger than a threepenny piece, but has a bright red spot in the centre of the back. What makes it less likely that the insect was a katipo (Continued m Next Column)

is that the habitat of this spider is close to the seashore, where it lurks in the warm sand under pieces of driftwood and logs. It has never been heard of so far inland.