"
Perotti expressly assures us that this reptile was called by the
Romans tarantula; and since he himself, who was one of the most
distinguished authors of his time, strangely confounds spiders and
lizards together, so that he considers the Apulian tarantula,
which he ranks among the class of spiders, to have the same
meaning as the kind of lizard called [Greek text], it is the less
extraordinary that the unlearned country people of Apulia should
confound the much-dreaded ground-spider with the fabulous star-
lizard, and appropriate to the one the name of the other. The
derivation of the word tarantula, from the city of Tarentum, or
the river Thara, in Apulia, on the banks of which this insect is
said to have been most frequently found, or, at least, its bite to
have had the most venomous effect, seems not to be supported by
authority. So much for the name of this famous spider, which,
unless we are greatly mistaken, throws no light whatever upon the
nature of the disease in question. Naturalists who, possessing a
knowledge of the past, should not misapply their talents by
employing them in establishing the dry distinction of forms, would
find here much that calls for research, and their efforts would
clear up many a perplexing obscurity.
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