The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-07-16

dertook TO make mm the ring, but on
condition that he would call after be
had worn it for while to let him know
if it had been the means of conduering
his mortal enemy or not. In about
three months afterward the young man
was passing the shop when the silver
smith called him in. He told him that
perhaps he (the silversmith) might
doubt what he stated, but that, never
| theless, it was perfectly true that from
the time of putting on the ring until
| then he had never once had fit, though
| before that time he had had three or
four week, and that he was rapidly
recovering his health. The silversmith
was greatly amused with this confession,
for the ring which he made did not con-
tain particle of the silver which had
| been brought to him. The ring was
! made by the silversmith himself from
the shank of an old silver spoon, and
yet theApatient assured himself that he
\ was cured.
Upon rejecting upon this remarkable
| superstition one must evidently arrive
at the conclusion that the whole cause
OF the cure was strong effort of the
4 Imagination. The young man forced
himself to believe in the potency of the
charm, and in doing so exerted an in
tiuence over the nervous energy which
produced the desired result. Nav not
this species of confidence account for
many alleged cures from the use of
charms? Sometimes a superstition ac-
commodities itself to a change in the
the public mind, and thus endures long
after its original form has ceased to be
regarded. 1t is by no means uncommon
to meet with educated people who wear
rings composed of zinc a14d copper,
which are supposed to have. favorable
effect in rheumatic affections, merely
because plates of these metals with a
fluid between them are employed to
form galvanic Circle
Talismans, or tie doctrine of sigma
lures, had their origin from belief,
says French fiter, that medical SUBJ
stances pore '6pon their external sur
races the Properties or virtues they
possessed oppressed upon them by plan
etary inD dence. The connection of the
propert <es of substances with their color
Is also. an opinion of great antiquity;
VIM 'Ie was regarded as refrigerant, red
as hot-cold and hot qualities were
therefore attributed to medicines so col
fored. This opinion led to serious er-
rors in practice. Red flowers were
given for disorders of the sanguiferous
} system, yellow ones for those of the
hillary secretion, etc. We find that in
smallpox red bed coverings were en-
ployed with the view of bringing the
pustules to the surface of the body The
} bed furniture and hangings were very
: commonly of red color-red sub
stances were to be looked upon by the
patient. Burnt purple, pomegranate
seed, mulberries or other red ingredi-
ents were dissolved in their drink. In
short, as Avicenna contended that red
bodies moved the blood, everything OF
red color was employed in these cases.
John of Gadderden, physician to Ed
ward H., directs his patients to be
wrapped up in scarlet dresses, and he
says that "when the son of the re.
nowned King of England edward II. }
J lay sick of the smallpox, / took care
J that everything around the bed should
be of a red color; which succeeded sc
, completely that the prince was restored
/ to perfect health without the vestige Of
) pustule remaining" Wraxall. in his
memoirs. says that the Emperor
7 smallpox, was rolled up in scarle
cloth by order of his physician as late
| as 1865, when he died. Flannel dyec
, nine times in blue was held to be eff
cacious in the removal of glandulal
, swellings. Amulets in earlier times
t were borne alike by rich and poor, anc
, even in our own day are not wholly
discarded-showing how firmly super
stition lays hold of the enlightened
mind. The elder tree, to the history O
, which many superstitions belong, forms
charm for variety of diseases, bu
, has been especially employed in cpl
lepsy,
J During the severe visitation of tn,
|. plague in London amulets composed O
i arsenic were very commonly worn owe
| the region of the heart, upon the princi
pie that one poison would drive out o
| prevent the entry of another. Quills o
| quicksilver were commonly worn abou
/ the neck as preservative against tn
, plague. The powder of toad was EN-
: ployed in similar way. Pope Adrian
is reported never to have been withou
J it. The ingredients forming his amule
were dried toad, arsenic, tormentil
, pearl, coral, hyacinth, smarag an(
, tragacanth. Charms were equally pre-
/ valent with tailsmans and amulets, ant
! in rural districts the belief in their eff
t cacy is far from being extinguished.
| The possibility of transplanting o
| transferring the ague was once com
. monty entertained. 1t is usual will
many persons in Germany who ar
} affected with ague to visit at dead o
: night the nearest crossroad five differen
times, and there bury new laid egg
, The visit is paid about an hour befor
, the cold fit is expected; and they ar
persuaded that with the egg they shal
r bury the ague. If the experiment fail
: (and the agitation it occasions ma
often render it successfully they at
. tribute it to some unlucky accident tina
3 may have befallen them on the way. L
the course of the walk, and in the per
: formance of the rite. they observe tn
strictest silence, taking care not t
a speak to any one whom they ma
: happen to meet. By breaking salte,
4 r