Daily Yellowstone journal., 1886-09-09
THE MYTHS or CHILDHOOD.
Duperstitious Notions Concer ling snakes
-Reputsd Remedies for ws,ts-fi.hing.

Duperstitious Notions Coneer ,ing snakes
-Reputsd Remedies for ws,ts-fi.hing.
The snake tribe has given rise to an
unusually large number of superstitions.
among peoples Of every degree of civili-
sation and of all times, from the dawn
If history TO the present day, somp form
IF serpent worship has prevailed. This
IS not improbably due to the air of mys-
te-y which attaches to the stealthy move
nents of the animal and TO the awe-in-
spring effect of the bite Of poisonous
snakes. And just as worship
prevails among savages to-day, so among
civilized people, children, most of all,
'eel fearful. superstitious interest in all
that concerns snakes, and have invented
many myths about them. In central
Ohio when one child kills a snake the
ookers-on universally call out: Its tail
won't die till sundown." This notion,
find. is one of wide acceptation, 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 will not
rawl over ash wood; and man over so
years of age tells me the same belief was
common in Massachusetts, when he was
4 boy, and he thinks it is by no means
vet extinct. In certain localities in Mas
sachusetts 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 enemies,
q 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
,e in place just here. In southern ohio
he children believe that the juice of .he
,sage orange (Maclura aurantiaca) will
remove these disagreeable excrescences.
In other parts of the same state the juice
If the tiny, creeping "milkweed" (Euphor-
,ia maculats or E. humistrata) is said to
,e certain cure for warts. This latter
notion i also find common in many
places both east and west of Ohio; while
n eastern Massachusetts, the same cura-
i've quality is thought to be possessed
~ the milky juice of the Asclepias Cor.
luti. New, does not the fact that plants
which differ SO widely from one another
ave in the one respect Of secreting
white or milk-like juice, are alike re-
,uted to possess this power Of removing
warts, probably show that this virtue is
mtirely imaginary and the result of
heir accidental similarity in their juices:
With or without reason, in eastern Mas
Iachusetts it is thought that bathing
n rain water that chances to stand in
rellow oak stump will cure them. An
,ther remedy is to rub them with a bean
eaf, and then burn the latter. Or, again,
teal bean, rub the warts, throw the
,ean on moist earth or bury it, and, as
he bean sprouts, it is supposed the warts
will gradually disappear. Another
cure" is to cut notch in a sprout of an
ipple tree, rub the wart across the notch,
and as the notch grows up the wart will
,e remove,.
Many half-grown lad believes that
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 or
he horsesfoer's shop and are carried
about in the pocket in spite of their
strong scent. Another supposed charm
is to spit on the bait. 1t is just possible
hat some odor lent the bait by either of
these substances does attract the atten-
ion of the fish, but l have no sufficient
evidence of this. In some parts of New
England boys dislike to meet crow
when going fishing, as they say this
io~etells bad luck. Silence is the law OF
good anglers (of larger growth), but boys
sometimes hope to get bite" by re-
peating over and over:
IFishy, fishy come bite my hook,
I'll go Captain, and you'll go cook
led in the PAM"
The confidence which children have ir
the various incantations which they re
peat for certain purposes is most in.
teresting. In different localities they
utter various formule when an ant.
lions den is discovered. Children
knew years ago in northern Ohio would
quickly bend down over the little funnel
in the sand and solemnly repeat in
rather a loud monotone. "Mooly-up."
'Mooly-up," until the sand began to be
stirred by the creature concealed below,
which doubtless was attracted by the
grooming sound.-Popular Science
Monthly,