Venom

(via New Yorker): In my view, the New Yorker magazine article titled 'Spider Woman' (March 5, 2007 issue, "A Reporter at Large" segment) provides a interesting 'blink' when you analyze the concept in the gem/art market perspective. I have heard gem/art dealers describing 'Venom Syndrome' with various interpretations. Then I came across the article + it makes sense. 'A single spider can inject its victims with as many as two hundred compounds: proteases that dissolve flesh, gelatinases that dissolve connective tissues, neurotoxins that short-circuit nerves, slow the heart, and freeze the limbs. A spider's venom offers a window onto its evolution, Bindford says — a chemical record of its most successful experiments at killing prey.'