Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-11-15
"oPsN SESAME.
The Phrase Which Opened to All Bahia the
Cavc of the Forty Thieves.

The Phrase Which Opened to Ali Bahia the
Cave of the Forty Thieves.
The sesame belongs to the sassafras
or saxifrage family, saxifrage meaning
rock-breaking. This family Of plants
probably came by its name from the
fact they grow in the crevices Of rocks,
and were supposed at first to have the
power OF enlarging these cracks and
assures. In time, no doubt, the vulgar
people came to believe that seed OF
sesame thrown on rock would split 1t
and make room for itself to grow.
From this idea these plants Gas people
lost the real significance OF the nancy
were accredited with being able to
break rocks and to excavate caves. 1t
has been said that Moses brought the
water out of the rocks by shifting upon
1t with wand made of sesame, or of
one oil the saxifrage species. These
rock-breaking wands are mentioned In
many fairy tales, and we have Seen in
pantomimes upon the stage how, at the
waving of wand, the rock scenery
divides and discloses fairyland. Barring
Gould, in myths and Myth.
Makers" makes considerable men,
ton of these magic plants
Sometimes it was supposed
only to be necessary to put either the
seed or the flower of this plant into
the wand, and not necessary to have
the wand made of the wood of the
saxifrage. Sesame was supposed to
have the power of indicating where
treasures lie buried or hidden, just as
hazel is supposed in rural districts,
even to this day, to possess the power
of indicating where spring of water
may be found by well-diggers In the
old heather mythology there have al
ways been plants possessed of repu-
tation for magical power The Ger.
man "luck-1ower" was supposed to
bring good luck and enable the bearer
of it to discover hidden treasure. The
English forget-me-not also was sup
posed to have this same power,
and there is story of one who having
used the forget-me-not to open rocks
where an enormous pile OF gold ant
precious stones were concealed, filled
his pockets with the jewels and prec
ious metal, and, turning to depart from
this mine of wealth, forgot to take thu
staff containing the flowers, notwith
standing it called out in piteous tones
Forget me not" This cry being un
Needed the treasure-seeker lief
his guide behind and was inclose'
and forever imprisoned in tn
rocks which no longer obeyed TIL
command Of the person deprived o
the potent talisman. In time 1t came
to be supposed that it was not neces
sary to have the plant, flower or sect
that the mention Of the name of thu
plant alone was sufficient to cleav,
rocks. 1t was this mere mention o
the rock-breaking sesame (the saxi
frage-also supposed to be the emblem
and possessed of the colors of tn
lightning) that enabled Ali Baba t,
rob the robbers. When he forgot tn
name he was powerless either to ope
the cave from the outside, or, bein,
inside, with his pockets full of treas
ure, to rend the rocks and so find hi
way back to the outer air Som
writers explain that Sesame is an an
nual herbaceous plant of the genu
seasame from the seed of which a
oil is expressed, which oil was used t
oil locks and hinges But this is nc
an explanation of the story that A
Bahia opened the rocks by sayin
"Open sesame" He had no key an,
we do not know that there were lock
or hinges. He only had to say "Ope
sesame" therefore the puzzle edito
gives as the correct answer to thi
question the saxifrage theory of tn
word seasame. Chicago Mail.