Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-08-27
SNEEZING CUSTOMS.
ORIGIN OF AN ANCIENT SALUTE AND
ITS WIDE OBSERVANCE.


ing to the Surrounding Circumstances.
Sneezing Is Considered a Sign of Re-
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"Why do we salute the snceZcrY" asked
| Pliny Is centuries ago. We still ask the
question, and one wonders if Pliny could
collect so many ingenious replies as the
ana of the nineteenth century furnish.
In Caxton's 1883 edition of "The Golden
| Legcnde" is an account of q pestilcnco in
Rome in the time of Gressry. thc Great,
from which many died suddenly ."In this
manere, somctymc snesying they deycd,
so that when any persone was herd sncsy-
ing, anone they that were by said 20 hymn,
God holpe you, or Cryst hclpc, and yet en-
dureth the customc." As Pope Gregory
reigned in the sixth century, Plinys query
far antedatcs the explanation in THE
Golden LcgGnde.".
In the Buddhist Scriptures, dating ut
least $50 b. c., it is related that Buddha,
when preaching one day to his disciples,
sneezed Whereupon all exclaimed: May
the Blessed Lord live! May the wei
come one livc!" thus seriously interrupt
ing the discourse. Buddha said "Tcll me,
when person sncczos, if the bystandcrs
say May you live, will he live the longer
or die the sooner for it?" "Ccrtninly rot,
lord" So he forbade them to suy it. But
the people took otfensc because the priests
did not thus salute them and Buddha re-
volicd 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 pctitiOncd for eXcmp-
ton from this law, and his prayer was
granted on condition that among all ma
lions snceze should be hallowed by the
words, "God bless you"
The Greeks traced the custom back to
the hlyth OF Promctheus, VINO maze an
Image OF clay and wished to give 1t lie.
From the sun he stole rccdful of rays,
and fastening back to his statue he placed
the reed under Its nostrlls, producing
shecZc-a phenomenon we may at any
time produce by standing in the sun. AT
this sign OF life III his creation, Prometheus
calculated II blessing and prayer for Its
preservation, and this response to snceze
mas been handed down through all gcher
atoms.
Also III the story of the Shunamlte child
restored to life by the prophet Elisha do
@A'''' '''''N '''A''
of nature Is the first sign Of life. The
child Sncczed seven times, and the child
opened his eyes. According TO scottish
1olklorc u newborn chllu Is uhucr the
fairy spells until 1t sncczes. Aristotle men
tons the practice OF physicians who When
death seems near give medicines to induce
shcrllhg, hoping thereby TO arouse inc
failing faculties. Aristotle seems to have
] frlN tn u
ing. he says Snceze on the right hanu
brings good fortune; on the Ielt mana IL
betokcnS ILL.," In the Odyssey, when Pencil
ope calls on the absent Ulysses TO punish
wrong:
Tclcmachus then sncczcd aloud.
The smiling queen the happy omen blessed
80 may VheSo llhl'lo"S ial Dy l"''oPPr''Seu'
And in the Anabasis it is related that
while Xcnophon was haranguing the army
some one sncczcd. Immediately the gen
eral voice addressed CALCULATIONS to pro-
tecting Jupiter, whose omen 1t was sup
posed to be- a sacrifice to the gods was
then proposed, universal shout declared
appreciation, and the whole army IN one
chorus sang the pRan.'
st. Augustine records that when the an
clients arose in the morning, II they Sneezed
NLlle putting Ou Vll'lI SlI''H, lII'S HilII'N'i
ately went back to bed again IN order TO
get up more auspiciously and so escape
misfortunes likely to occur during the
day If n Hindoo sneczcs while perform
ing his morning additions in the Gauges,
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 sncezing is considered
good omen, sign of returning health.
Howell, in 1862 said, "Hc that hath
sneezcd twice, turn him out of the hospi-
tai" Among the ancicnts, if any one
sneezed directly after dinner dish was
brought back and tasted to avert miSfor-
tune.
The custom OF saluting belongs TO every
nation and cline. In Ethiopia, when the
king snceZcd those about him salutcd so
loudly that thcy were heuru anu cCIoc''
through the whole Guy. IN Iofs lIe Solo
had an interview in Florida with ca
ciuuo who during conversation. happened
TO sneeze All his attendants bowed their
bo,ds ononod and closed their arms and
-, r.. -, III, t,Nrn,. +L, e,,r
'"iu'T" 'iio p INV WIN
guaru you, SHINE on YOU uolchu S"u' Pros-
pr Sou, anu Sii,ii-'si
I'il" r, Inv, ". 1000 seogo AID