Spider-Bites

Cases of Lutá (venomous spider)-bite (lit. - poison of a Luta) are the most difficult to diagnose and cure. The diagnosis of such a case puzzles the head of many an experienced physician, while novices in the art of healing find it a very difficult matter. In a case of doubt or of conflicting indications pointing equally both to the venomous and non-venomous character of the bite, a physician should employ anti-poisonous remedies of such a character as would not prove hostile (to the natural temperament and vital principles of the patient's system nor to the course of food and drink he is enjoined to take or naturally takes), since the Agadas are applicable only in cases of poisoning and, applied otherwise in healthy non-poisoned persons, would produce all kinds of discomfort. Hence it is incumbent on a physician to gather conclusive evidence of the poisonous nature of the bite at the very outset. A physician, failing to ascertion the existence of poison, proves more fatal in many cases than the bite itself. 43.

Development Of Lutá-Poison

As the first sprouting of a tree does not enable a man to correctly ascertain the species, so the poison of a venomous spider in its first stage of incubation into the body, does not develop any specific symptoms sufficiently potent to throw any light on its nature, nor does it give any hint as to its correct diagonosis. A spider (Luta)-poison latent in a human organism, is marked by a slight itching sensation in the seat of the bite, as if the poison were shifting from one place to another * in that locality, by the presence of Kotha (urticarial, and by an indistinctness of colour on the first day of its incubation. On the second day the seat of the bite becomes swollen at the end and sunk in the middle and the characteristic marks of biting show themselves. On the third day the specific symptoms (fever, shivering, etc.) of the poison of the animal set in. On the fourth day the poison is aggravated. On the fifth day the symptoms and disorders peculiar to its aggravated condition are present, On the sixth day the poison begins to course through the organism and envolopes the Marmas (or the vulnerable parts). On the seventh day the poison is diffused throughout the whole organism, becomes extremely aggravated and proves fatal. 44.

* In place of "Prachala" Gayadasa reads "Prabala," i.e., strong and says that the poison becomes stronger and stronger with the lapse of time.

Potency: - The poison of spiders (Lutá) which are acutely and violently venomous proves fatal in the course of a week. That of a middle-poiso nous one would take a little more time in order to prove fatal, while a bite by one of the mild-poisonous brings death within a fortnight. Hence a physician should try his best with anti-venomous remedies for the complete nullification of the poison immediately after the bite. 45.

Location: - A spider is found to secrete seven kinds of poison through the seven different parts or principles of its body, viz., saliva (Lálá), nails (claws), urine, fangs, ovum (Rajas), fecal matter and semen, and such poison is either keen or mild in its potency, or follows a middle path between the two keen and mild). 46.