Morning journal and courier., 1881-11-11
unaccountable Antipathie.
The Odd AversIons that Have Terrified FTen, the Evfsest and Most Courageous.

The Odd diversions that Have Terrified
 Men, tEae EVfsest and Most Courageous
 IFrom the New York Sunday world-I
 Shakespeare in his Merchant of Venice"
 has well-known passage concerning the un
 accountable antiquities of some men, and an
 interesting book might be written upon the
 subject. Not unfrequently these antiquities are strongest tand-apparently-mos r1dlcuI-
 ous in people whom one might suppose to be
 loftily superior to anything of the sort.
 Scaliger turned pale at the sight of water cress; neither he nor Peter of Abano could ever drink milk; Cardan was disgusted at
 the sight of an egg; a French lady ''neEer could abide'' boiled Holsters. and Ambroise Pare records the case of & gentleman who IS similarly affected by the view of cooked eels. Vaugheim famous Aanoverian sportsman, slew wild boars innumerable, but ran away from a roast pig, or tainted if he had not | time to beat retreat. Marshal Albert was so terrified at the view of 8 pigs head that Bussy says that if anyone had fought duel | with the Marshal with pigs head in his left | hand he would have had as much advantage as if he had worn 8 suit of armor- The smell of fish threw Erasmus into fever. King Vladislas of Poland ran away from an apple. | Zimmerman records the of a lady who shuddered on touching the velvety skin of a \ peach, silk and satin being equally obnoxious | to her Dr. Beattie tells of healthy and | strong men whom the touch of velvet dis. | turbed. Lord Barrymore could endure any | thing but pansy; the Princess of Lamballe anything but violet Gretty, the compos- 1 CT. and Anne of Austria abhorred the smell of | roses; we read of a monk who tainted on | seeing g rose and never quilted his cell during | the season of their towering Favor1ta, the | Italian poet had 8 similar aversion, and so | had Vincent the painter, and Scalliger tells of | a relative whom the sight of lily threw into | convulsions. Henri III. tainted on seeing a
 cat, though he was passionately fond of little 1 dogs The Duke of Scbomberg had the same | mortal antipathy, and the case is recorded of l 8 gentleman who could not even bear to walk l under signboard bearing the image of poor | puss The Duke of Epernon was unaffected by the sight of hare, but the view of a leveret would throw him into cold perspi | ration. The Marshal de Breze tainted at the sight of rabbit in this case the antipathy
 could be traced back to his having shot, while firing at rabbit, a servant, the husband o1 one of his mistresses. hare or a fox terri fled Tycho5Brahe fairly out of his wits. Will
 liam Matthews had mortal dread of spiders
 and when the Duke of Athole, thinking the
 antipathy feigned, $ approached him with hit
 hand closed Matthews drew his sword anc
 was with difficulty prevented from killing
 himself or the Duke. Marana, the author o1
 the Turkish Spy,'' tells us that he would
 have preferred eneountering lion rather
 than spider. Mather records the case of {
 young woman who could see person trin l
 were employed she tainted Beattie, that O | man who had horror of seeing anyone
 handle a cork. La Mothe de Vayer couldno l bear the sound of any musical instrument
 though he delighted in the roar of thunder
 Augustus had mortal fear of thunder an(
 lightning, and though he always carried
 sealskin as talisman against them, woult
 hide if possible in vault; his terror hai
 been inspired when. during night march | the lightning struck his litter and killed
 l slave by his side. Henri III. was similarl
 affected. lunar eclipse was too much fo the nerves of Bacon. Bayle, the philoso , pher, never could overcome his antipathy t. the sound of water splashing from pipe O
 cock. Peter the Great, though later h.
 built fleet, could not till he was fourteel bear the sight of still or running water, ea 1 pecially if he was alone, nor would he eros
 the shortest bridge in his carriage unless tn windows were shut close. The Empero
 Heraclius at the age of fifty-nine conceive such an aversion to the sight of water tha : it was found necessary to build bridge 0 boats across the Bosphorus and screen closely with boughs in order that he migh , enter Constantinople. The cases are men ) tioned of one Nicano, who tainted wheneve
 he heard 0 flute played, and woman i
 Namur who Swooned on hearing a bell rung
 and resident of Alcantara who was throw into convulsions by the sound of the wor wool" though he wore garments of tha material. Pennant, the traveller. had grea 7 aversion to wigs, and on one memorabl
 occasion, after exhausting himself in male 3 dictions upon the Mayor of Chestel's hea
 covering, snatched it off and fled through tn
 streets with it, pursued by the indignar magistrate. Louis XIV. abhorred the sigh
 of gray hat, and Lope would not suffer an r one to use tobacco in his presence. An
 every one knows the aversion that James 6 had to the sight of 8 naked sword, and ho' l DiryI1x1 fn 1uffb h that when the King knighted him His Majet
 ty turned away shuddering and nearly ran th g new candidate for knighthood througt T Lastly, according to Brantome, while th Queen of Naples, Jane IT., was unlike tn Q majority of her sex in being without fear C !, the smallest monstrous mouse that creel ! the floor as much could not be said fo
 Caraccioli, her favorite. He was so timid i p all respects that Her Majesty let nous
 loose while he was playing at chess, and il his terror he rushed into the Queens arm ] for protection, a new version of the famllis I