Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-07-24
pnlLosopny o. sNEEzlNo.


tlss Nasal Organ.
A witty Frenchman Of the last cen.
fury based an attack upon the stuff |
box on the ground that Il was mainly |
responsible for the decay of that an.
cient form OF politeness, the custom Of
blessing person after zneezimg. He
contended that il was sacrilegious 10
bless sneezer who had coerced ma.
ture into the performance of one of
her most inyigorating functions, and
that the BENSON was no longer in any
degree the same thing. We, how
ever, who know that the dethrone-
ment of the snuff box led 10 no actual
revival OF the benedictory fashion,
may appeal 10 science To throw light
upon one OF the most ancient forms OF
innocent superstition.
According TO a rabbinical legend,
sneezing. as habit, is only referable
To the time of Jacob. Before patrl.
archal DAYS no man sneezed more than
once; for the sufficient reason that
the shock was invariably fatal. At Jar
cob's intercession this law was abro-
gated. but only on condition that all
races OF men should henceforth EN-
, ploy III words of congratulation for
the sneezer's happy deliverance.
! Whatever its origin-and it may be
/ doubted If il ever had particular OF
local starting point-the practice has
: without doubt, been derived by the
i Christian world from the times d
/ heathenism Polydore Virgil aver
Q that it took its rise at the time Of thu
r plague in $50, when the infected fel
i down dead sneeziug. though apparent
t ly in good health. Tie Romans Ger
IS tainly made oblations TO the genius o
sneezing; but Catullus treats the in
{, Fiction with gayety, as we find iron
as the lines in Cowley's translation:
~ Cupid. tickled at the sound
IN Sneezed aloud. and ali around
TX The little lovers, that waited by.
a. Bnw'd and bless'd the augury.
10 1t is clear, however, that the Roman
ie simply followed an established Gree
ne custom. Centuries before, Aristot
sp had given his own account OF I'll
OF omen, and was SO far refined in his e.
plantations as TO tell his readers VIII
lie sneezing from noon until mldnigl
he was good, and from night to noon Vi
v. lucky. II would be fruitless To inqui
nd through what channel the practi
Ig- came to the Greeks, for traces OF
.er existence are to be found not only
of the wildly contrasted civilizations
4 / antiquity, but even among the barba
! Gus tribes Of every quarter OF q
re- globe. Before Greece was nation, Z
q sneezer was blessed alike in the 'Da
Continent" and beyond the Gang
me The inetFable Buddha himself on
as sneezcd. whereupon oil his priests Q
on claimed, May the welcome one live
n / Buddha, however. took them severe
as 10 task. and the right to say, M
ng you live, sirl" TO Buddhist priest
me still fruitful subject of popular &C
Der tention.
or Although sneezing is a purely
ur- voluntary act, ii is possible in sol
,ok measure to guard against its attacI
for In the case of fully developed co
the sufferer must necessarily subr
ted TO the infliction: but. as TO the sne'
ely casual. it would appear TO have
the nuence only in listless or weaker
sc condition of the bodily powers. L
1ng pie seldom sneeze when their faculi
are in full tension. Great nervous
in element will hardly admit Of the
in taxation of a sneeze. Hence we of
TO ind church. ball or theatre Ill
and with an audience ready TO indulge
said the smallest provocation. They are
xty the passive and recipient mood.
My the other hand, a strong nervous C
900 centration possesses the preacher,
turer or actor His faculties are g
ling ed up for the feat before him, and
ling can at least temporarily defy
was draughts that make martyrs OF sc
| he of his hearers. London Graphic.