Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-12-03
Superstition.

like many other foolish people, not only
fail to profit by the experiences of
others, but, in many instances, their
own experience seems to be lost on
them. Notwithstanding the fact that
several well-known witch doctors in
Ross-shire have recently failed To per-
I form cures in 4 number of cases in
which man and beast were said to have
been ''witched," the credulous and
superstitious still resort to them for
| the cure of natural diseases, as well as
of ailments attributed to the malign
/ influence of the occult powers of dark
ness. Instead of serving to shake the
belief of the devOteeS of demOnOlOgy in
the reality of witchcraft, these failures
| on the part of the witch doctors to
perform cures have had no other effect
than that of discrediting themselves in
the eyes of the superstitiOus, by whom
they are regarded as impostOrs. In
deed implicit belief III witchcraft is not
nfrequently associated with ostenta-
tious professions of religion, self-right-
eOusneSS and ardent SabbatarianiSm.
A few days ago fishing smack, which
hailed from certain village situated
on the west coast of the mainland, had
occasion i'll course of its calling TO pro.
ceed to Portree. Before starting on the
voyage witch doctor was, as usual,
called to sain the craft, which he did
under cloud of night by splitting on it,
describing several cabalistic characters
on it with wand, and mutterIng Gae-
lie incantations. Having thus perform
a1 his art ths. xVttnh Doctor irafnrrn.aH
his employers that the vessel was now
sained, and might with safety proceed
on its voyage without skaith or acci-
dent of any kind Being thus assured
of immunity from danger of any kind,
the smack proceeded on its voyage. and
on entering the Sound of Roma struck
on sunken reef and at once became a
total wreck, and the crew of two young
men were with difficulty rescued by a
boat which put off from Roma to their
assistance. The witch doctor, whose
popularity had been on the wane for
some time previously, is discredited,
and regarded as an unmitigated impos-
tor. lie has not appeared IN public
since.
For the removal of small foreign
objects which may by accident find
their way into ones eye, the witch
doctor has long been regarded as
specialist. For the successful treat
ment of such cases it is necessary that
the witch doctor should receive his fees
in anticipation of cure, and that he
should not see the patient; indeed, .he
greater the distance between them the
easier is the cure performed. The
usual course is for the patient to send
verbal message, accompanied by
handsome fee, stating the particulars
of the accident, to the witch doctor.
Having received the message and the
fee, the professor of demOnology, after
going through Several mysterious per-
fOrmances, such as rolling about his
tongue in his mouth, turning up the
whites of his eyes. and muttering Gae-
lie incantatiOns, places his finger on his
mouth, and, in presence of the messen-
ger. removes short hair from his
tongue. The hair Is supposed to repre-
sent the troublesome object in the pa
TENTS eye, and Immediately it is pro-
duced the patient is relieved. The other
day man by no means deficient in In
tellIgence, residing in the Parish of |
Lochcarron, met with slight accident !
to one of his eyes, and forthwith a /
messenger was dispatched a distance Of |
several miles to witch doctor, who, !
after going through the usual mysteri- |
GUS performances, somehow failed to |
effect a cure. Recently an old woman,
who had been an adept in curing such |
cases, died in the Parish of ApplecrOsS. |
Being such a successful witch doctor,
her fame spread far and near, and |
patients from all quarters consulted her /!
for their ailments. On one occasion a
man residing on the island of Roma /
had an accident To one of his eyes, and !
having sent message unaccOmpanied |
by fee to her to cure him, she, after
having gone through the appropriate !
performances, found on her tongue not /
the usual hair, but full-grown and
well-developed specimen of the pedicu-
lnS UeStimentiS, which genus of Insects
are said to find cOngenial breeding
places and happy hunting-grounds on
the persons of West Coast Islanders.