Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1888-11-17
"oPeN SESAME.
The Phrase Which Opened to All I3aba the
Cavo of tho Forty Thieves,

The Phrase Which Opened to All f3aba the
Cavo 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 q seed Of
sesame thrown on a rock Would split it
and mako room for itself to grow.
From this idea these plants Gas people
lost the real significance of the name)
were accredited with being able to
break rocks and to excavate caves. It
has been said that Moses brought the
water out of the rocks by shifting upon
1t with a wand made of sesame, or OF
one of 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 a wand, the rock scenery
divides and discloses fairyland. Barring
Gould, in Myths and Myth
makers" makes considerable mem
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
She 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 a spring of water
may be found by well-diggers. In the
old heather mythology there have al
ways been plants possessed of a repu-
cation Tor magical power. The Ger
man "luck-aower" 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 and
precious stones wer concealed, filed
his pockets with the jewels and prec-
ious metal, and, turning to depart from
this mine of wealth, forgot to take the
staff containing the flowers, notwith-
standing it called out in piteous tones.
Forget me not" This cry being UNI
needed, the treasure-seeker left
his guide behind and was inclosed
and forever imprisoned in the
rocks which no longer obeyed the
command of the person deprived of
the potent talisman. In time it came
to be supposed that it was not neces-
sary to have the plant, flower or seed
that the mention of the name of the
plant alone was sufficient to cleave
rocks 1t was this mere mention OF
the rock-breaking sesame (the saxi-
trage-also supposed to be the emblem
and possessed of the colors of the
l1ghtning) that enabled Ali Bahia to
rob the robbers, When he forgot the
name he was powerless either to open
the cave from the outside, or, being
inside with his pockets full of treas
ure, to rend the rocks and so find his
way back to the outer air Some
writers explain that Sesame is an an
nual herbaceous plant of the genus
seasame from the seed of which an
oil is expressed, which oil was used 10
oil locks and hinges. But this is not
an explanation of the story that Ali
Baba opened the rocks by saying
'Open sesame" He had no key and
we do not know that there were locks
or hinges. He only had to say open
therefore the puzzle editor
gives as the correct answer to this
question the saxifrage theory of the
word sesame Chicago Null