The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-09-12

the thunder of her tread and the clerk sank
behind the counter with a flash of his lurid
locks
A Tribune reporter asked the clerk what
the woman meant. lie was enlightened as
follows:
eve have colored men and women call
here every day and ask for Adam and Eve
1t is root found in New Jersey swamps
and is supposed to bring the best fortune to
its owner We charge 81 for a single
root. Here is one of them" The
reporter was shown a small, light-eolored
root, resembling in fibre the peanut-root
From a slender stem bulged two protuber-
ances OF unequal size. "The small bulb"
continued the clerk, sis Adam the larger,
Eve. Colored people put the roots in a bot
Tie and then pour pint of whiskey on them;
II they swell, there's luck in them and they
are cherished for years as their most valua-
BILE possession. | have known negroes to
commit suicide because they had lost their
Adam and Eve A colored man came in
here few DAYS ago and told me that he had
been TO Philadelphia and that he made over
a hundred dollars at cards. On his way back
on the train he had got drunk by imbibing
the whiskey in his Adam and Eve bottle,
and in fit of frenzy had thrown his charm
away. He said the money was stolen from
him before he arrived in Jersey City, and he
had spent week hunting over the tracks
of the Pennsylvania Railway for his lost
Adam and Eve 1 sold him another"
The superstition about the four-leaved
clover is well known. We have them for
SAFE here and have good trade for them.
They can be bought for SIS each. Some per-
sons who have found four-leaf clover
would, believe, rather part with their lives
IMAM with their tiny plant, for it brings de-
struction on the fortunes of a man if he
loses his quatrefoil."
- There is root that is known among
colored people as the dead root 1t is very
small, shaped somewhat like a carrot, but
forked The more forks it has the more
powerful it is. The peculiar virtue of the
dead root is that it not alone prevents
death by violence, but drives away the evil
spirits that are supposed to hover about the
remains OF worldly negro after death.
Wherever you meet with colored man of
reckless daring you may depend upon it
that he has dead root hung about his
neck. 1t is necessary, however, to make
these fetiches powerful, that no person
should know that you are the posessor of
one, for such is the faith the negro has in
their virtue, that if any man is supposed to
nave one OF extraordinary efficacy, he would
be in danger of robbery if not of murder
Besides the root that have spoken about,
there are many others that have special vir-
tues. The snake root will cure snake bites,
however poisonous they may be, and the
devil root is supposed to prevent delirium
tremens."
The superstitions are not confined to the
negroes by any means We have white Gus
toners as well, but of course their number
is small. 1t is true that the colored people
who come here to buy the Charmed, roots
belong TO the most ignorant portion of their
race, but there seems to be a grain of the
most senseles superstition inherent in the
negro that is found in the members of no
other race. The herb business is not now
what 1t used to be. In fact, it has decreased
one-half in the last five years. While the
treatment with herbs is still regarded as
good, the science of pharmacy has become
such that only the active principle of the
herb is used instead of the plant itself, Our
stock is gathered in New Jersey and Long
Island, by persons who make herb-picking a
regular business. The plants are dried and
packed there, and are sent to us in bales.
OF course, we are obliged to depend to a
great extent on the knowledge of the herb
gatherers, but they are trained from their
childhood to make proper selection, and
their training seldom leads them astray.
Herbs and roots are sent to US from all parts
of the country, as there are some plants
with medicinal properties that cannot be
found in our vicinity. But it is rare indeed
that an herb is sent to us from over the seas.
1t is safe to say that there is not a plant
that grows which is valuable in medicine
that cannot be found within the boundaries
OF our country"