Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1888-08-11
TRADITIONS OF THE NAILS.
Superstitions that Obtain in Many PARIS
ho Vnr16

TRADITIONS OF THE NAILS.
Superstitions that Obtain in Many Parts OF
the World.
Considerable care and attention have
always been paid to the nails, and many
curious ideas and beliefs with regard to
them exist, even among our own peo-
| pie.
A curious Jewish tradition reports that
Adam was entirely clothed in hard,
horny skin and only lost it and became
subject to evil spirits on losing Paradise.
The nails are the remnants of this dress,
but they are sacred, and who ever cuts
them off and throws the cuttings away
does himself an injury. An old Per-
| sian chronicle says that Eve also pos
sessed this dress, and the nails were left
| to remind them of the loss of Para
disc
The ancient Edda of the Scandina-
VANS tells of a great ship, Naglfar, which
will appear at the last day. It is made
of dead mems nails, and parings should
not be thrown away, nor should any one
die with impaired nails, for he who dies
so, supplies material for the building of
that vessel, which gods and men will
wish were finished as late as possible. :"
The Jewish Talmud of Babylon for
bids the Jews to leave the nail-parings
on the ground, for fear of the conse-
quences to women passing over them.
They should be burned or hidden away.
Another old work says. "He who burns
the parings of his nails is pious man ;
he who buries them is equally SO; but
he who casts them on the earth is an
F, impious man." Many Jews still care
| fully burn or bury these cuttings. These
are taken, inclosed between two small
bits of wood and consumed. The reason
alleged is that the body should be
burned or buried, and that nail parings
being left above ground, the soul Of the
possessor will wander abroad after his
death. In Norway they are burned, or
else one will have to gather the pieces
on the last day.
There are many curious beliefs in re-
gard to the manner in which the nails
J should be cut. He who has had the
habit of pairing them frequently will
have no good luck, says Andalusian
wiseacres, and he who cuts them over a
fire, allowing the parings to drop into
it, will become fool. In Iceland, it is
believed that any one turning toward
the north while trimming his nails will
soon die. Norwegian peasants say you
must use the knife with which you trim
the nails to cut something else before
putting it away. If you cut whit three
times into wood you are free from any
danger of sorcery. Arabs properly re-
gard it as bad taste to bite the nails.
/ The nails of infants are regarded with
peculiar attention in many lands. It is
generally thought throughout Europe
that they must not be cut at all until
the child has attained certain age. In
one part of France, it is said that they
must not be trimmed at all or the child
! will grow slowly; in another that it will
be a thief; in another, that cutting them
before the child is seven years old will
destroy it's wit, while the limit in still
another part of the same country is but
one year.
In Germany, and in parts of England,
it is said that the child will become a
thief if its nails are cut while at the
breast, and it is prescribed both in these
countries and in France, that they
should be bitten off, preferably by the
mother. Many mothers in our own
country believe this, and prefer to use
no steel, biting or pinching the tender
growths.
An old English proverb says:
Better child had ne'er been born,
Than cut his nails on Sunday morn"
In Sicily, to avoid trouble, piece of
money is put into child's hands the
first time it's nails are trimmed. Anda-
lusian mothers carefully cut them from
| behind the door if they wish the child to
be good singer, while Northumber-
land parents bury the first cuttings
under an ash tree for the same reason.
It is said in many parts of France, and
in many parts of our country that a
seven-months child has no nails.