The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1885-08-29

then he had never once had fit. though
before that time he had had three or
four q 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 the patient assured himself that be
was cured.
Upon rejecting upon this remarkable
superstition one must evidently arrive
at the conclusion that the whole cause
OF the cure was a strong effort of the
imagination. The young man forced
himself to believe in the potency of the
charm, and in doing so exerted an in
fluence over the nervous energy which
produced the desired result. May not
this species of confidence account for
many alleged cures from the use of
charms? Sometimes superstition ac-
commodities itself to 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 and 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 the doctrine of sigma
lures, had their origin from a belief,
says French writer. that medical sub
stances bore upon their external sur
faces the properties or virtues they
possessed impressed upon them by plan
etary influence. The connection of the
properties of substances with their color
is also an opinion of great antiquity;
white was regarded as refrigerant. red
as hot-cold and hot qualities were
therefore attributed to medicines SO col
ored. This opinion led to serious err
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 SUBJ
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 commended 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 III.
lay sick of the smallpox, took care
that everything around the bed should
be of red color; which succeeded so
completely that the prince was restored
to perfect health without the vestige OF
a pustule remaining" Wraxall. in his
memoirs. says that the Emperor
Francis l., when infected with the
smallpox. was rolled up in scarlet
cloth by order Of his physician as late
as 1765, when he died. Flannel dyed
nine times in blue was held to be effi-
cacious in the removal of glandular
swellings. Amulets in earlier times
were borne alike by rich and poor, and
even in our own day are not wholly
misunderstanding how firmly super
stition lays hold of the enlightened
mind. The elder tree, to the history of
which many superstitions belong, forms
a charm for variety of diseases, but
has been especially employed in cpl
lepsy,
During the severe visitation of the
plague in London amulets composed of
arsenic were very commonly worn over
the region of the heart, upon the princi-
pie that one poison would drive out or
prevent the entry of another. Quilts of
quicksilver were commonly worn about
the neck as a preservative against the
plague. The powder of toad was en-
ployed in a similar way. Pope Adrian
is reported never to have been without
it. The ingredients forming his amulet
were dried toad, arsenic, tormentil.
pearl. coral, hyacinth, smarag and
tragacanth. Charms were equally pre-
valent with tailsmans and amulets, and
in rural districts the belief in their eff
cacy is far from being extinguished.
The possibility of transplanting or
transferring the ague was once COM
tnOuiy cutcrtaineu. IL IS usual With
many persons in Germany who are
affected with ague to visit at dead OF
night the nearest crossroad five different
times, and there bury a new laid egg.
The visit is paid about an hour before
the cold fit is expected; and they are
persuaded that with the egg they shall
bury the ague. If the experiment fails
(and the agitation it occasions may
often render it successfully they at
tribute it to some unlucky accident that
may have befallen them on the way. In
the course of the walk, and in the per-
formance of the rite. they observe the
strictest silence, taking care not to
speak to any one whom they may
happen to meet. By breaking sailed
cake of bran, and giving it to q dog
when the fit comes on, the malady has
been supposed to be transferred from
the patient to the animal.
Fish charms have been met with
among many nations. The fish called
the bullhead is used by some of the