American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-03-28

I IT is not necessary To go back to the
middie ages to find among the people the
gr"ssest suprrstiiiuns. 1t is not Vet 200
years no longer ago, indeed, than the be-
ginning OF the eighteenth century, when
men still believed in a thousand absurd
| things in which the devil, and Heaven
only knows what occult influences, play ed
| an important part.
! 4 considerable number Of these super
stiiious beliefs have been collected in a
little French book which we have before
US. 1t is entitled La Magic Naturcile,"
and was published in the year 17i5 1t
being copy Of revised and corrected"
edition, We are justified in coming to the
conclusion that the book had at least a
very fair sale. And then the publisher
| neglected nothing, it would seem, to Sc
/ cure purchasers. On the cover there is
this announcement: " To be had of Rob-
ert lie Turcq, rue d'Enfer, Amsterdam"
which is very like Robert The Devil, street
| of the INTERVALS This was sufficient to
( attract the attenti n of the credulous.
One entire chapter of the book is de-
voted to the 0ertus (powers, properties) of
certain animals. 1t is a series of recipes,
directing how one may acquire super
natural power by utilizing different in
habtants of the animal kingdom.
! Would you become brave, SO brave even
as To have no fear of death itself! would
Z
danger, take part in the bloodiest en-
counters and remain unsc aihed! then take
| the feet of hare and the head of a black
| bird, Tie them together, and carry them
attached to your arm.
If this process does not please you,
| choose another. This one, for example:
/ Cut the skin of lion in thongs and tie
them round You But one has not a ways
! a lion at ones disposal. For such cases
The author has provided. The lark, the
| rapn of the Cbaldeans aft ,rds a su sii-
| me for the ski, of the king of beasts.
Z" He who will carry on his person the feet
of this bird will never be prosecuted; on
the contrary, he will always be. ready to
face danger. He will always be vicrori-
GUS and bis enemies will fear him The
right eye OF this bird enveloped IN piece
of VOLTS skin, will make him who carries
| it mild and amiable; and by putting
frop of lark's blood into glass of wine
one may make himself loved by the per-
son who drinks it. This last experiment
/ has been recently tried"
| Who would ever have believed that the
/ lark possessed such a long list of virtues?
! Availability, courage, invulnerabiliiy, etc,
etc.
| I'm 171O it was discovered, says our
author. that il one takes OF the blood of
the seal and a biLof its heart and carries
/ them under his arm, he will surpass all
! MS ltIlpWS III VIII anu luugutHi, anu lHc
| criminal who is thus provided will ex-
cite the sympathy aud compas sion of his
| Judges
| But these are only bagatelles. Here is
| something worth while, thanks to the EEL
| by means of which the dead may be re-
suscitaied- The only trouble is that the
preparation is somewhat difficult 1t is
necessary, in the first place, that the eel
/ should die Tor want OF water, and further
more that its body should be perfect and
entire. Then we are directed to put the
I eel in a mixture of strong vinegar and the
blood of the vulture and cover it over
| with manure-hOw large the pile should
be is not stated. All that now is neces-
sary is TO place the dead body before the
pile in order TO see the person return to
life.
Another property of the eel: eff one
eats its heart warm he will be able to fore
tell future events"
But let us leave the slippery eel for
that ominous bird of yOre," the raven.
This member OF The fea hercd tribe is well
| calculated to excite the popular imagina-
| ton.
| "If we boil its eggs" says our French
man, land then return them to the nest
whence we have taken them, the raven
will Immediately fly away. Without
halting, he will cross lands and seas until
he arrives AT the island on which Alodri-
Gus was buried; and there, even, he will
| remain only long enough 10 pick up
little magic stone. He now returns, at
single flight, with his precious burden TO
his deserted nest. And now, o wonder!
| hardly does he touch the eggs with the
stone when every trace of the boiling dis
! appears The bird having no further use
for the stone, being now sure that the
eggs will hatch, lets it fall. AT this mo-
ment we must be at hand to pick up the
I A., -
we must have il set in ring This ring
is priceless If we touch anyone with it
who is in letters, or door that is locked,
the letters will Immediately fall off and
the door fly open"
Besides these very useful properties
the ravenStOne possesses others that may
be made to contribute greatly to our
amusement: For example, our author
! says that he who puts it in his mouth
| will be able to initiate the song of any
bird he chooses"
And the blackbrdl Although its pow
ers are not equal to the ravens, they are
still very remarkable. Witness: aft we
hang up the feathers of its right wing
with a red thread, in a house that has not
been occupied, no one will be able TO
sleep in it so long as the feathers remain
hanging. If we put its heart under the
head of person asleep, the person will
tell all he has ever done in answer 10 our
questions; while il we throw lis heart in
To wcll-w iter, together with The blood of
IA lapW ing, stir, and then moisten the tenn
pies ut any one Herewith, sickness and
perhaps the death of the person will be
the consequence"
These are veriiable facis,' says the
author OF La Magic Narurelle," "as [
any self have frequently proved by expert
ment."
Did he ever verify this one also?
- If any one eaiS of The brain of the
eagle, powdered, mixed with Tie juice of
hemlock, he will not stop till he pulls out
not only every hair on hiS head but every
hair on his body"
After having recorded all these cxtrav-
agant supersIitons the author of the LILLE
volume infurms those who have any inter
est in being informed on the subj CT that
when one would have recourse 10 these
secrets The trial, should he made under
favorable planeis-Jupijer or Venus,
when the object To do good; when la do
evil, under Saturn or Mars.-HGtrtt and
HoMe
4 Good Cauvas>er.
A CENTRAL MICHIGAN editor, whose