Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1886-08-21


--Repnsed Remedies for Warts Fishing.
The snake tribe has given rise to an
unusually large number OF superstitions.
Among peoples of every degree Of civili-
cation and q all times, from the dawn
81 history to the present day, some form
IF serpent-worship has prevailed. This
Is not improbably due to the air Of mys-
cry which attaches to the stealthy move
ments OF the animal and TO the iawe-in-
spring effect Of the bite Of poisonous
makes. And just as serpent-worship
prevails among sayages to-day, SO among
civilized people, children, most Of all,
feel a fearful, superstitious interest in all
that concerns snakes, and have invented
many myths about them. In central
Ohio when one child kills snake the
lookers-on universally call out: ats tail
won't die till SHUTDOWN" This notion,
find, Is one of wide acoeptation, and
doubtless arises from the persistent vital
ity Of the muscular contractility Of the
make. In southern Ohio it is now gen.
orally believed that snake win not
crawl over ash wood; and man over so
years OF age tells me the same belief was
common in Massachusetts, when he was
boy, and he thinks II is by no means
yet extinct. In certain localities in Mas
sachueetts reputed final cure for tooth
ache Is to bite into living blacksnake.
An old saying
Break your first brake, -
Kill your FIRST snake,
And you'll conquer all your Ienies,
is often recalled by the first snake one
meets in the spring, or at sight of the
earliest fern. find few children can be
persuaded that our common snakes are
not poisonous"
Some reputed remedies for warts may
be in place just here. In southern Ohio
the children believe that the juice of the
Usage orange (Maclura aurantiaca) will
remove these disagreeable excrescences.
In other parts of the same state the juice
If the tiny, creeping 4milkweed" Euphor-
bia maculata or E. humistrata) is said to
be certain cure for warts. This latter
notion l also find common in many
places both east and west of Ohio; while
in eastern Massachusetts the same cura-
tive quality is thought to be possessed
by the milky juice Of the Asclepias cor
mutt. New, does not the fact that plants
which differ so widely from one another,
save in the one respect OF .secreting a
white or milk-like juice, are alike re-
puted to possess this power Of removing
warts, probably show that this virtue Is
sntlfely imaginary and the result of
their accidental similarity in their juicesf
With or without reason, in eastern Mas
sachusetts it is thought that bathing
in rain water that chances to stand in a
yellow oak stump will cure them. An
other remedy is to rub them with bean
leaf, and then burn the latter. Or, again,
steal bean, rub the warts, throw the
bean on moist earth or bury it, and, as
the bean sprouts, 1t is supposed the warts
will gradually disappear. Another
cure" is to cut a notch in sprout of an
apple tree, rub the wart across the notch,
and as the notch grows up the wart will
be removed.
virtue is impaired to the bait by rubbing
it before casting his line into the water
with the hard calosity from horses
fore leg; these horny growths are, there
fore, eagerly sought about the stable oil
the horseshoers shop and are carried
about in the pocket in spite of theil
strong scent. Another supposed charm
is to spit on the bait. 1t is just possible
that some odor lent the bait by either Of
these substances does attract the atten-
ton of the fish, but / have no sufficient
evidence of CHS. In some parts Of New
England boys dislike to meet CROW
when going fishing, as they say this
foretells bad luck Silence is the law Of
good anglers (of larger growth), but boys
sometimes hope to "get bite" by re
Epeating over and over,
"Fishy, fishy come bite my hook,
I'll go Captain, and you'll go cook
led in the PAM"
The confidence which children have il
the various incantations which they re
peat for certain purposes is most in
teresting. In different localities the,
utter various formul@ when an ant
lions den is discovered. Children
knew years ago in northern Ohio wouh
quickly bend down over the little funne
in the sand and solemnly repeat il
rather a loud monotone, "Mooly-up,
"Mooly-u until the sand began to b
stirred by the creature concealed below
which doubtless was attracted by tn
grooming sound. Popular Scienc
Monthly,