The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-08-01
sNEEZING CUSTOMS.
ORIGIN OF AN ANCIENT SALUTE AND
ITS WIDE OBSERVANCE.

turning Health English Folklore.
"why do we salute the sneezerr' asked
Pliny Is centuries ago. We still ask the
question, and one wonders IL Pliny could
collect so many ingenious replies as the
ana Of the nineteenth century furnish.
In Caxton's 1883 edition of The Golden
Legende" Is an account of pestilence in
Rome in the time of Gregory the Great,
from which many died suddenly. "In this
manere, sometyme snesying they deyed,
so that when any persone was herd snesy-
ing, anone they that were by said to hym,
God helpe you, or Cryst helpe, and yet en-
dureth the custome." AS Pope Gregory
reigned in the sixth century, Pliny's query
far antedates the explanation In 1.-THE
Golden Legende."
In the Buddhist Scriptures, dating at
least $50 b. c., 1t Is related that Buddha,
when preaching one day to his disciples,
sneezed Whereupon all exclaimed: MAY
the Blessed Lord liyel May the well
come one liver' thus seriously interrupt
ing the discourse. Buddha said, "Tell me,
when person sneezes, IL the bystandors
say May you live, will he live the longer
or die the sooner for itY" Certainly not,
lord" So he forbade them TO say 1t. But
the people took offense because the priests
did not thus salute them and Buddha re-
voked his command.
The Talmudic tradition is that the GUS
tom dates from Jacob. Before his time
man did not die of disease, but when his
appointed time was come he sneezed once
and was dead. Jacob petitioned for exemp-
tion from this law, and his prayer was
granted on condition that among all ma
tions sneeze should be hallowed by the
words Good bless Won -
The Greeks traced the custom back to
the myth Of Prometheus, who made an
image of clay and wished to give 1t life.
From the sun he stole reedful of rays,
and fastening back to his statue he placed
the reed under its nostrils, producing a
sneeze--a phenomenon we may at any
time produce by standing in the sun. At
this sign of life in his creation, Prometheus
calculated blessing and a prayer for Its
preservation, and this response to a sneeze
has been handed down through all gener-
ations
Also in the story of the Shunamite child
restored to life by the prophet Elisha do
we find the idea that this convulsive effort
Of nature is the first sign of life. 1.-THE
child sneezed seven times, and the child
opened his eyes," According to Scottish
folklore, newborn child is under the
fairy spells until 1t sneezes. Aristotle men
tions the practice of physicians who, when
death seems near, give medicines to induce
sneezing, hoping thereby to arouse the
failing faculties. Aristotle seems to have
given much attention to omens Of sneez-
ing He says sneeze on the right hand
brings good fortune; on the left hand 1t
betokens i'll. In the Odyssey, when Pencil
ope calls on the absent Ulysses to punish
wrong:
Telemachus then sneezed aloud.
The smiling queen the happy omen blessed,
| 80 may these impious fall by fate oppressed"
And in the Anabasis 1t is related that
while Xenophon was haranguing the army
some one sneezed. Immediately the gen.
| eral voice addressed CALCULATIONS to pro-
| tecting Jupiter, whose omen 1t was Aup-
| posed to be- A sacrifice to the gods was
| then proposed q universal shout declared
| appreciation, and the whole army in one
chorus sang the pean.
st. Augustine records that when the an
| clients arose in the morning, If they sneezed
while putting on their shoes, they immedi-
ately went back to bed again in order to
get up more auspioiously and so escape
misfortunes likely to occur during the,
day. II Hindoo sneeZes while perform
ing his morning ablutions in the Ganges,
he touches his forehead, nose, chin and
cheeks with the tips of his fingers and re-
commences his prayers from the very be-
ginning. In illness sneezing is considered
a good omen, sign of returning health.
Howell, in 1869, said, "He that hath
sneezed twice, turn him out of the hospi-
tai. Among the ancients, II any one
sneezed directly after dinner dish was
brought back and tasted to avert misfSr-
tune.
The custom of saluting belongs to every
nation and CLINE. In Ethiopia, when the
king sneezed, those about him saluted so
loudly that they were heard and echoed
through the whole city. In 1542 De Soto
had an interview in Florida with ca
Clique who, during conversation, happened
| to sneeze. All his attendants bowed their
heads, opened and closed their arms and
saluted the prince with "May the sun
guard you, shine on you, defend you. pros
per you, " and similar phrases. An Italian
child s primer of 1868 says, being prompt
in saluting any one who may sneeze and
returning thanks to any who ON suoh an
occasion may have wished you we'll.
An epigram in the Greek anthology
shows 1t was customary to say, "God bless
you" The ancient Romans said "Salve." I"
The modern Roman of the lower class
says, "Figli maschiP' MAY you have male
ohildren) The North Germans say, "Your
good heallh;' in Vienna, "God be with
you;" in Ireland the peasant says "God
bless your honor" "Long life to your
honor" The Russian form Is ''To your
good health" or "How do you dor" Eng
lish folklore is full Of rhymes about sneez-
say: