The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-02-01

A Relic Of Pagan Days-It Was Once 4
Prayer to Observation-Disclosures Cited.

Reminders OF a time when mortals
We're supposed to have close intercourse
with the gods come up now and then.
and often in the most unexpected places,
says the Chicago Post. For example,
there are some five thousand persons in
chicago who daily write inyocations to
Jupiter or Zeus. Many times this MIMI
Der give of their substance for these
talismanic ciphers. hoping thereby to be
rid OF some bodily i'll. Now, the curious
part of this latter-day pagan worship is
that those who make the sign OF High
Olympus king have little, if any. thought
Of what they are doing. and those who
eagerly seek the 'parchments" never
suspect they are taking part in a medico-
religious rite OF the Middle Ages. In
short. the priests of Jupiter" are ply
sicians and druggists, the suppliants
their patients or customers. and the
parGhments ordinary prescriptions.
In the left-hand upper corner Of every
physicians prescription or druggists re-
cipe may be found a letetr ''R," having
a line drawn obliquely across its tail.
Not one person in ten who writes a
prescription takes the trouble to recall
the significance OF that little stroke
| across the r, and not one in q thou
sand who carries a prescription to the
dispenser knows anything at all as TO
the meaning of the symbol. Physicians
and druggists textbooks tell US it
stands for recipe and means take
Of the following" Many CT those who
write and dispense prescriptions will
pause in their busy moments long enough
to say it is 4 mere arbitrary sign and
means little. if anything: but the stu
dent OF ancient things finds in that we'll
known symbol a relic OF the days when
prescriptions had to be blessed OF the
gods to be effective, and will tell us
it originally meant May Jupiter or
Ecu tor some other god who happened
to be not over-busy at the timeD bless
this prescription and bring the patient
health."
Arena biologists. while agreeing as to
the antiquity of this medical symbol or
talisman, differ somewhat rs to its exact
original meaning. The olest form OF the
letter appears to have been a figure like
the English letter 81 with the lower
horizontal part crossed with q scepter-
shaped line. This, or some modification
OF it, has been from time mmemo
the symbol OF the planet Jupiter. And
this is given as the reason for placing
it at the head Of prescriptions, for
the great planet. bearer Of the name
Of the father Of life, was believed in
olden days to have a peculiar and pow
" id' VNSl dIStdStS. nc
symbol has also been generally describ-
ed as simply the initial letter for Zeus,
the Greek name for Jupiter. But this
only a%ccounts for part of it, as it makes
no provision for the scepter-stroke, an
object which, accompanied or entwined
by a serpent. was prominent in repre-
sentations Of Jupiter. Still others have
figured it as being made UP of the initial
and criminal letters Of Zadakiel, the
angel and spirit of the great planet.
Some, taking it TO be q combination OF
4 and Il" have held that it might
be derived from the name Of Raphael,
angel OF the sun. while one-Taylor-
says: This ideogram resolves itself
into an arm, grasping "a thunder-bolt.'
which is only another way of ascribing
it to Jupiter.
h bulk Of testimony, therefore,
seems TO strengthen the first position.
that the symbol is a fragmentary and
obsolete medical talislman, once potent
with the unseen pOwers, but now
meaning to the average person little
more than 81, an ill-tasting mixture and,
perhaps, improved health.