The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-03-11

Virtue OF Toad-stones.-Amu of
Religious witch Money
and Medical. Fet,ches-Boats for
witches.
{ Correspondence OF tho Boston Tran.
scrirt)
Warrington, Mares ..
Among the unsolicited gifts which
strangers are constantly sending to the
President of the United states are numcr-
Gus aumlets and charms designed Ivy the
Will meaning TO lend supernatural help
and service to the Chief Executive and his
family.
hese witch darts are picked up now
and then in nearly every part Of the
world. 1t is obvious that nobody makes
or uses them. ard therefore they mus, be
OF supernatural origin. In Japan they
are Bill employed as weapons by spirits,
and every year an army of goblins flies
through the air in storm and discharges
! shower OF these Trojectiies. If "a person
taxes the precaution TO wear an elf-dsrt
at his NECK, no Is proof against such
missiles
iota is only the dawn of that light
| called science, which throws no mys-
|
may lurk. The superstition regarding
onals IS very much alive to-day in the
| United States. 10 wear an opal, or to
D 7ssess one is supposed to be bad luck,
ana yet, wren certain building in
Union square, New York, was destroyed
by lire IA lew years ago, this only part of
| IL that esGApen was the premises occupied
by llh any x Co, where was stored at
| the time the greetesg collection Of opals
ever got together. Other precious stones
have occult powers for god or evil.
Iurqnolses sometimes change color. and
that Is ominous 9arnets are worn by
| widows to assua9e grief.
lie human mind IL full Of these yagar
les. Among the articles lost in the mails
| and advertised for the annual sale by the
| Post Ofhce department in Washington
are astonishing numbers of medals which
have been blessed by priests. Most
amulets are for protection in this world
merely, but these "scapuIars," as they
are called, have reference to defence
against mischief in the next world. The
understanding is that person who wears
"a scapular will be taken out of purGatory
| within twenty-tour hours after entrance
| 6hereto, 1t does not see to be settled
satisfactorily how Objectionable purgatory
is as place Of residence, but the impress
sion gained is that 1t is a desirable spot to
get away from; hence the value of the
taiisman.
4
TO science as 'staurolite " which sciystal-
lies normally in form that has the ap-
pearance Of a cross when the stone Is cut
| in slices, is imagined 10 be Of supernatur
ally origin. There are several quarries
of staurolite in Brittany, one of them near
| Auray, and picturesque specimens of this
mineral are gathered and mounted by
jewellers TO be cut up and sold as anu
lets slab Of the stone containing q
number If the crosses is regarded with
great veHeration and is almost priceless.
| Amulets Of this material are sure pre-
vention against shipwreck, browning and
hydrophulia
Their is no country in the world where
belief in ca things Is more prevalent
than in Italy, where the people generally
are STEPPED in superstition. Curionsly
enough. no auulets are more generally
priced by them than xbeads of common
glass, aFound in faucsts and strung.
SUCH strings of glass beads are supposed
to possess wonderful medicinal properties,
protecting the wearer against dipntheria
and other diseases of the throat There
snould be seven or nine, beads, and II
possible, one of them must be OF rock
crystal livery midwife has string OF
these beads, ana all careful mothers
provide or hire them 10 lie worn by their
children ss the latter approach puberty.
One of the most curious superstitlons
exists in regard to the so-called toad
teolion against kidney diseases. 1t used
to be imagined that these toad stones ex
| listed originally in the heads of toads,
those batrachians being able to cough
them up and deliver them TO any person
who knew how to furnish the requisite
| inducemenG. However, Ii is now known
that they are the teeth of an extinct and
very ancient fish called the "hump-toothe
| shark. " Occasionally they are washed up
on the seashore, as reminders of an epoch
to which such notions supernatural would
belong more reasonably than they do to
The present enlightened day.
The processes OF nature, in the making
of The earth, have evolved many queer
freaks, and not the least familiar of the Sc
Is the conoretion of limonite, which has
! the form of hollow ball, with detached
fragments inside, 1t is unnecessary to
&c into description of the method well
| understood, by which balls of this kind
We're made; for present purposes it viii
suffice to say that they are regarded as
! possessing special virtue TO help women
during pregnancy. In the same way,
a ringed agate, which may be imagined
to resemble an eye, is supposed to be u
protection Tgainst the evil eye. In Italy,
any glttering object, particularly glass,
| Is considered as antagonlstic ito the evil
| eye. Indeed, the demand for such things
! is So great that il ia impossible TO prevent
servants from stealing the glass shoppers
oA Lott4So anu Eitss pentoHVo VA OAah0e-
lieIs.
A notion still survives in some Old
| World countries, that charred fragments
OF Yule log, placed in "a building, are
preeaution against lightning. Not long
ago, at town in Ferugia, there was
grave discussion as TO whether light
nng-rod or n IuIe log should be en-
ployed for the protection of the parish
| church. lie decision W as in favor of the
| log, because it was less expensive.
Belief in the virtue of amulets seems
To have begun with the dawn Of human
ideas. In ancient h gpyt little bulls heads
OF blush .diorite, resembling turquoise
were placed on the mummie's necks to
keep oil evil spirits. Solomons signet
was famed, accOriug to story, for It's in
tluence over demons and genii. The most
ancient emblem IN the world Is the
'swastika," which the trader of southern
India paints on the flyleaf of his ledger,
OF beside mis- doorpost, to keep ill-fortune
away from his children and his animals.
Sometimes this symbol is drawn upon the
sh3ven heads of children in India. Hard