Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-10-20
About the AncicDts.

Mr.. W. J. MCGEE, In his paper on
primitive Trephining, Illustrated by the
Muniz Collection" describes some nine
teen skulls collected by Senior Muniz
Surgeon-Generll of the Peruvian army.
which skulls show trephining. Two Oh
the crania are in the Army Medical Mu-
scum. at Washington. The quest ms
which are ably treated by Nj McGce
are. whether the Peruvian Indians ire
pinned to relieve pressure on the brain
from a wound. or to produce epilepsy, or
10 obtain fragments Of the Skull Ter
charms. 1t has been argued that, with
Il certain reverence for those we call de
mented" to-day. trephining was resort
Ell 10 by primitive and even cultured races,
I'm order to produce half-witted persons.
il was the production Of the live oracle
Mr. Niece shows how many OF the ire
pinned died, probably after the operation
But there is one skull of exceptional in
terest. There is silver plate, which
looks as If IL had been used in trephin-
ing. "The presence of the plate, its seat
In the skull. showing long wear and
the absorption and reparative growth. all
indicate that the person operated on
survived. If the differences" adds Mr..
MCGEE, "are true, IT will follow that the
operation in this case was not only sur
gical. but parallel with the non-traumatic
trephinng Of modern practice. thus ind-
eating q considerable advance n medi-
cal knowledge and surgical skill" The
recent suggestion advanced IN this col
umn relative TO plastic operations made
by a wild horde OF people in Northwest
India. indicates that primitive people
may have had a knowledge Of surgery.
The Spectator has a clever article en-
titled THE Tyranny of Coincidence" The
example shown is Of a lady who was
driving outside Of Athens. When the
horses were halt5d, one OF the team re-
fused his oats. The Greek coachman in
sisted that the horse was under
spell. The young English lady
had an "evil eye" The man told
Miss Symonds to spit-that was
tn. only cure. The young woman was
forced TO 20 through that unladylike per
Torrance, and at once the horse took TO
his feed THE coincidence riveted the
chains OF superstition upon the driver
tighter than ever" Many condolences OF
a similar character must occur TO the
reader. Here is a case: A child was told
to put a four-leaf clover in his left shoe.
and was assured that he would be sure
TO find something" The little boy did so,
and had hardly moved out of his tracks
I'm a large grass grown pasture before he
found an old half-dollar of an ancient
datc, evidently lost years before. The
child was not superstitious ana, Tor
tunately the parents were not. The mat
ter of coincidence was explained TO him,
and, among other things, he was plenu-
fully supplied with four-leaf cloVers. but
he never found anything. The origin or
superstition associated with amuiets OF
any material objects must owe its being
II. .r4l
who are not educated 1t may be that the
tyranny Of coincidence does exist, but 1t
should not hold with those having sound
minds We all have. however. dark
chamber in our brains, and 1t Is there
that the owls and bats OF superstition
flap their wings.
We ought to have an endless amoInt
of good luck with perfect immunity from
the baleful effects OF the evil eye. DE-
Bellucrs catalogue, "Della COleZione Dc
Amulet" contains a list OF not less than
1900 items, every one OF which has
a potency Of its own. In Italy IN
Vulnerable amulets, sovereign preventive
against all the ills OF humanity, can be
found. In a former note the perforated
or "holey stone" was described. Notes
and Queries tells Of the campanile of q
church on the road TO Amalh. There
are four gratings in the tower. and 10
each is attached a holey pebble. But
the use of perforated stones as charms
IL not singular in Italy. English fish
ermen will pick up natural stone with
a hole i'm II and fasten il TO the bow q!
their craft. so as TO insure good luck
A rather pretty superstition used to exist
,r England Two lovers would Obtain
a perforated stone. would blow throub n
II. and that was supposed 10 make thelT
affection n lasting one. Looking very
far back. when primitive man first found
stone with natural hole IN H. ne
SUSPENDED II around his neck. II Is POS
sible that the superstition OF the HoIey
stone" began thus early
The work carried out by NJ. Homoi'e
adjacent TO Delos has very much enldrseu
orr knowledge OF the domestic life or the
Greeks. besides yielding many me arr
obtectc. The Athenaeum says that the
town IN proximity with the harbor has
the sam interest az Pompeii possesses
We can now understand what was ti!V
plan OF a Greek house, something we oniy
knew theoretically by studying Vitruvius
The ground near the harbor shows what
must have been commercial warehouses
and priyate dwellings. They have more
than such decorations as OF wall paint
ings and mosaic floors, and contain
works OF sculpture. This work at Deios
promises great results. and there is the
possibility OF finding some masterpieces
OF Greek sculpture.