, 1889-02-28
A Love Charm.

The manufacture of love charms and
philters is u practice nearly as old as the
race. The medieval astrolo9ers found
their principal revenue from the sale of
charms, which we're to attract indifferent
eyes to the owners of them or bring back
to its allegiance some erraht heart. The
male sex when driven to entire despair by
some heart-whole, aouting she, did not
scruple to use the charm or the philter as
last resort: but the 0entler sex were the
astrolCger's better customers. Perhaps
because men are naturelly more given TO
vanity and more confident of the power of
their unaided charms perhaps because
immemorlal custom has decreed that wo-
man must wait to be woed and fol bids
that she should put forth her powers of
persuasion and eloquence. At all events,
women are to this day the chief users
OF charms and secret devices for compass
ing their ends in matters of the heart
Here is love charm which is declared to
be absolutely infallible and was recon-
mended and manufactured for years, aud
in great numbers. by very old New Or.
leans negress, who was Voodou priestess
and who was said to be more than hun
dred years old. She was q native African
and never learned to speak English very
distinctly. She lived by telling fortunes,
the sale of herbs and Voodou charms, aud
tion for efficiency, not only among her own
people, but among the Creoles rs we'll. 1t
was made by catching a small tree toad,
one of the sort who make night resonant
in those warm regions, and which are not
very much larger than the first joint of a
mans thumb, provided the man be big
one, but with voice out of all pro-
portion to their size. Their backs
are . smooth delicate green in color,
lib Ill H. l..
they are pure, silvery white. These little,
noisy reptiles are very shy and difficult to
catch, and 1t was always u mystery how
this antique darky managed to secure
them. as they generally prefer to sing
from the upper branches OF the largest
trees. She did get them. however, and
compassed their demise by the kindly bar
barrie device of driving a large pin through
their heads She then looked for an ant.
hill-and in Louisiana the formice are
numerous and voracious--near which she
bones were Immediately picked and pol
ished to snowy Wilderness by the ants. In
the course of a day or two the remains
were disinterred and went through certain
voodou formuiaries-mysterio African
werds-and were passed through 6re upon
which salt was sprinkled. The
charm was then ready for use,
anu tue purchaser having paid
e2050, all in silver half-dollars, for this
about her neck for seven nights in suces-
sion. She was then to lie 10 wait for the
ipsensate wretch who had failed to prop.
erly appreciate her attractions and. unob.
served, hook the little skeleton to the gen.
tleman's coat by its sharp, white claws.
He probably crushed it or dropped il short
ly after, but IL it remained only very few
minutes, five or six at most, the charm
was sure to work, 80 great were its mys
terious powers. The ancient African
managed to dispose of some forty or ffty
OF these charms every year. and she was
wont sOlemuly to assert that out of several
hundred cases in which the charm was
used but seven had entirely failed, aud in
those cases because the charm had been
applied ''in the dark of the moon" it be-
ing necessary that all love charms should
have their use when the moon was waning.