Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1883-01-25

The supposed liability OF the innocent
multitude to the malevolence OF the evil
eye caused the superstitious to have
recourse to many charms, incantatione.
and ceremonies to avert ill-consequencea
and render the poisoned glance innocu-
Gus; among which, as just recorded,
prayer and the use Of saliva were con-
splcuous. The wearing OF coral
brooches, beads, and earrings In still O
.opular charm in Naples against tie
vii eye. 'Tn Scotland" says Mr..
raham DalzeIl, in his addenda, ''a
thread tied about chlld's neck, or
rowan cross, (cross Of mountain ash),
4: believed to be equally eficacious
In preventing the influence of evil spir-
its, evil eyes, and other calamities.
In the Middle Ages an amulet, Of q
lozenge shape, marked with the mystic
letters A. B. r. A. G. A. ID. A. B. R. A.
was worn in the bosom as q certain
specific. A cross formed of the wood
of the elder tree, affixed to cow-houses
and stables. was supposed 30 protect
the cattle from all possible harm A
branch of the rowan tree was also in
great favor, and to hold up but braLch
or twig In the presence of an eye-biter
was sufficient to render her deadlest
wishes of no avail. A four-leaved
shamrock, which is excessively rare,
and all the more highly pr1zed for that
reason, was a sovereign antidote. In
Pocock's travels in the east be says
that the Arabs of Egypt threw salt into
the fire as a charm against the effects
OF an evil eye, or before loading their
camels for journey through the desert,
concluding, as the blue flame arises,
that every evil genus is hanished.
The election of saliva was also consid
red a charm of peculiar efficacy.
Pliny speaks of it as a certain antldote
o fascination" ss well as preserva-
tive from contagion, and in pugiIistic
encounters as certain to aggravate the
violence of a blow. cat the present
day, as of DID," says Mr.. Dalzell, "a
Greek mother, as if commemOrating
the words of Theocritus AMI TibulIus,
spits in her bosom TO repel fascinating
glances directed toward herself, and,
dreading the gaze of the sterile on her
child, spits in its face" But the most
common of all the charms In use against
the eyil eye is that very vulgar gesture
of applying the thumb to the moose,
stretching out the fingers, and t'twid-
ding" them with q rapid motion for a
few seconds, commonly practiced by
London street boys, without the slight
est knowledge OF its origin or meaning,
and known in slang parlance as taking
sight" The Slang Dictionary says
l,at Ito take sight" is a vulgar action
employed by boys to denote incredu-
lity or contempt for authority; but the
real meaning in ancient times, forgotten
and wholly unsuspected in our own,
was to show contempt and defiance OF
the Vaccinations OF witchcraft, and to
render the evil eye powerless. This is
the action that SO offends the good
uatured Pho Mono, not for itself, but as
manifestation of the public opinion
that he possesses, independently Of his
will, q power that he would be the last
to exercise designedly. This vulgar
sign, modern as 1t looks, IL as old as
Egyptian civilization, and was known.
as tracings upoR the unearthed walls OF
Pompeii and Herculaneum abundantly
prove, to the street boys and other vul
gar inhabitants of those ancient cities.