American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-02-19
curloslrlEs OF SUPERSTITION.


CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION
THERE seems to be no absurdity SO great
in the way Of supcrstitious belief, thai
8 countesparfs to it cannot be obtained. As
for Instance, the belief prevailed in some
parts Of England that . person may cure
himself Of bolts by crawling around a
nswlydlled grave: In some parts Of
6cotiantl the following barbarous expedi-
ent IL sometimes had recourse to for chill
dren ipfected with worms
a quantity Of the garden worm is col
lected and tied In cloth bag, and then
efuelly submitted TO q painful and linger-
Ing death by exposure to the influence of
= allow nrc, by which they are gradually
roasted alive. Their decomposed remains
are q, then NIL. applied as sslve, to the stomach
In the EnRlish cheese counties the be-
lief Is that . c.,Iid who sucks . white cow
will thrive we'll 5=s..
In Scotland, even among persons of Sta
ton and Intelligence, there is q very
strong objecti0n 70 msrTyingin May. The
Scotch adage runss
:. From ne marriage In Nay,
AL the bairns die and decay"
In Europe during the Middle Ages the
belief In magic rings was almost univer-
al. Some Of them, like that one which
G5ger. King Of Lybis, found In grave,
were supposed TO possess the power of
making their wearers invisible. Others
were regarded 8 charms and tsiismans
against witches, demons and diseases. A
copper ring. having dog and lion en-
efsved upon il, preserved in 3earer from
the pcstilcnce; with the figure of . hare
u was defapse Against the devil, and
with scockatrice it WAS talisman against
The evil eye
Airing a gold was thought 10 cure St.
AnfhonysD IRE or erysipelas. A ring made
ofsilver collected 1t the communion sery
ICE cured convuIsions. A silver ring
made Of f1ve sixpences collected from five
di7sreuf bncheiors and eonstr,,cted NV a
bschsAor blacksmisls, .esred ITS, provided
none Of the riyers knew for what pur-
noe they. enTe The. coin A ring made
q nsIvef e1utfibufeds By twelve young
vUmon, cons1anfly worn on the iinQer,
cured epiIepsy. The collie was cured
With he help Of an ocfangular iron ring,
On which eight words were engraven,
and BY comnanding the bile to take pos
ssosinn ofnn unfort1nate lark
Gffli darker, II possible. was the super-
criminals. OF nom three nails or screws
which kad been used 70 fasten q comm, or
hsd been dug up ia graveyard, could
cnfe manifold diseases.
These supersfitiom Obtained credcnce
among ali cIaases-fhey found place in,
The minds Of high bred people like Sir
Chxistopher HafSon. Who sent . ring 70
Q1ean Elizhe<h 10 protect her from ALI
infecfious an. Il was not to be worn ON
hex lneer. buf to be pIsced On her bosom
- the chas1e nest OF pure consfancv'D
Louis NspnIeon. ID his will. empha-
sizes hesouIe,nn decIersfion q win re-
md to NV aon let him keen as q tajis-
nan the seal I used to wear sftached 10
my watch.b This piece of fetichism
would appcar to have formed vet another
link between the imperial exile who had
panef from our midst, and tllose Latin
Tnces which cause he affected TO represent,
NH many years ago II was believed that
go xc..id 49,. 800 ,..a .nia .ne "aist
In some parts Of Sussex, England, there
soPefsunon nat II you put on your
ngnt sucking. right shoe and right
Quoserlef Deaore the len, you will never
have tooehache. Lady Wentworth, in
lencr wnAen In lib, to her son, Lord
coa1erd, spoke Of the emicacy OF wolves
teesn ~ 9oto, 70 assist children In cutting
me1r teeth: They are very lucky things;
for my twoe first one did dye, the other
bred his very i'll, and none of We rest did,
for had one for all the rest"
Cromwell believed in Sept. 2, and
Louis Napoleon in Dec 2. Sulla called
himself Felix, The favored child Of
fortune, and iimoleon turned his house
into temple OF chance Alexander, IL
we may credit the account given by Quin-
tus Cufttns, was terrlned by blood flowing
rom inside his soldiers bread during the
siege OF Tyre, In 532 b. G.. His son, Aris-
lander, foresaw In this crimson efiux Of
sDe VIAL streem our o. tne commissiarai a
n.RRy .s9e lol .ne ~ aIe1onlans ana The
-. tnus never to9k Tyre;
lie learned bacon, Lufher, Pascal, Guy
raun, Miit1n, IT. johnson, ana even
6outney, oeheved IN the existence OF