Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-12-06

Kiss: Thrice q Curse-f You Sneez0
While Putting on Your Shoes,
Go Back to Bed.
When Prometheus with the fire which
he had stolen from heaven, proceeded
to vivify his clay man, the first sign of
animation manifested by the latter was
a fit of sneszing. Possibly the newly
made man was much impressed. and
in consequence thereof strong hered-
itary regard for sneezing may have
been transmitted to his descendants.
Be that as it may, however, the an
clients. prone as they were to. find mys-
teries and omens in all quarters. failed
not to regard sternutation as a very
serious matter for consideration, and
one that was fraught with many
portents for both good and evil. al
though, from a physiological point OF
view, their ideas were no doubt some
what crude and unscientiic, for a
knowledge of this phenomena OF reflex
action, and an intimate acquaintance
with the pne,mogastric nerve and its
functions, did not fetter the magma
tons of early observers. Thus. from
the earliest times and among all races
OF men, we find that the apparently
simple act of sneeZing has given rise
to many curious beliefs. and in nearly
every age and country has had more or
less superstitious Importance attached
to it.
An Elizabethan authority, quoted
by correspondent of Notes and
Queries, describes sternutatiOn as ''va-
pour ascending into the head, and SO
to the brayne. and when there is more
and OyermOche abundance, assembled
to that place more than nature can di-
gest, then it is expulsed by the spirite' S
vital, and so falleth down through the
nose and mouth" He adds, moreover:
when you feel it will come, rubb
your eyes and it helpcth." No doubt
his advice would have been equally
welcome had he informed us how we
might effectually stop the sneeze in
stead of helping it, for he goes on to
say that: '.Yf man lie awake in his
bedde and sneze one TYNE it is syne
of some greater sickness or hyn-
draunce. VI a man sleape in his
bedde and sncZe one tyne it betOken-
yth greet trouble, the deathe of some
persone, or extreme hyndraunce in the
losse of Substance. Yf man I've in
his bedde and make a sneze one tyne
it is good syne both of health and
lucre, but if he sleape it is moche bet
ter" In the latter remark we think
our readers will quite agree with him;
it certainly is very much better to
sleep when in bed than to lie awake
sneezing. Those who are in the habit
of frequenting public houses would dc
well to bear in mind that: ''Yf man
travel by the waye and come into an
inne and sneze twyse. let hymn departe
out of the house and 60 to another OF
else he shall not prosper. Prcsum.
ably we may surmise that in this case
the ''snezes" point to the existence Of
draughts in the inn, and the risk Of
the traveller catching cold in conse
Quence should he stay there.
ST. Austin tells us that if the ancients
sneezed when they We're putting or
their shoes they went to bed again
Moreover. that it is lucky to sneeze il
the morning but unlucky to do so in
the afternoon or on Friday. or for ;
bride to hear a cat sneeZe shortly be
fore her wedding. are well-knowr
pieces of folk lore prevalent in many
parts of this country at the present
day. 1t is also popular belief tha
to sneeze once signifies a wish, twice
kiss, and three times curse. Sneez
ing at table as the viands are being re
moved was at one time looked upon a.
an i'll omen, and in undertaking AM
business one or three sneezes were con
sidered unlucky, although two or fou
were favorable, as was also the cas-,
when two men CHANGED to sneeze sim
ultaneously while engaged in som,
business transaction. While Themis
tocles was making a sacrifice befor
the battle with the Persians one of hi
attendants CHANGED to sneeze, and thi
was regarded by Euphrantides as
favorable omen, which presaged tn
victory of the Greeks. Pliny held tina
il is lucky to sneeze to the right bu
uniucly to the left; and from anothe
writer we learn that 1.-TWO or thre
eneezes be holsom, and one is . threw
token"-wha.eyer that may mean. Al
cording to Suffolk rhyme: