Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-02-26
ON CHARMS AND PHILTERs.

From the beginning of history man has
believed in magic. There have been buy
ers and sellers of charms from the earliest
| ages. Once in awhile the name of sor-
cerer or sorceress sprang into evil fame.
Thus we read of Apuletus, who was ac-
cused of unlaw full practices acquired from
eastern magic.ans in the second century,
and of Locusta, whose house on the Pala-
! tine hill was we'll known as the scene of
cruel experiments on slaves. By such she
became expert in preparing poisonous
drugs. But an attempt to poison Nero
brought her own ruin and death.
| AT one time Roman ladies dabbled in
occult arts. AS far back as 800 years be-
fore the Christian era there was a club
of Roman married ladies who used to
meet under the guidance of certain Her
onima Sparta, fortune teller. They used
to concoct charms of all kinds. love drafts
and poisons which they began to admin
lister somewhat too freely to friends and
enemies. Discovery followed. Sparta ard
three of her confederates were hanged,
while no fewer than $50 matrons were pun
ished by public whippings and banish-
ment-
Precious stones have always been Goa
sidered as taiismans. The jasper was ia
vorable to puDlic speakers. 1t loosened
the tongue and gave a ready flow of
words. Orators wore it about their per-
sons. The amethyst was looked uron as a
sure preventive of drunkenness, and the
sacred agate insured the wearer against
snake bites.
All sorts of herbs were used in charms.
Certain plants made people in sympathy
with each other The citron, for instance,
|: with its heart shaped leaf, was clearly in
tended to draw hearts together, while
asarUm (wild ginger) enabled lovers or
friends to talk to each other at a dis
| tance. If each friend were provided with
leaf of the plant, the faintest whisper
of one would be heard by the other al
though miles apart. Vervain inspired ar
dent passion Olive leaves insured peace
full life. Opium was used to cause a sleep
which should simulate DEATH an ex-
pedient often resorted to by unfortunate
lovers, while henbane caused wild and
terrifying visions.
woman to whom this last drug was
administered described how small objects
Became suddenly enormous and threaten
ed to crush her and how she felt her head
and body separating from each other
The ranunculus, or "sardonic herb" in
spired sort of forced gayety, with con-
vulsive laughter. The term "sardon,c
laughter" has come down to us in conse-
quence. But rose leaves had the power to
loosen charms and unbind spells 1t was
SAID that the color of the rose came from
the blood of Venus, who pricked her foot
on a thorn, while the rose itself sprang
from the blood of Adonis. Later on, in
the middle ages knights would battle in
rose water to acquire "genteness and
true courage
The myrtle was sacred to love and We
nus and therefore had power to preserve
! the charms of beauty. A plant named syl-
phion. however, possessed the wonderful
property of making old men young and
was sold for it's weight IN gold. In Rome
it was kept in the state treasury in the
form of a resinous gum. Julius Caesar
sold 1,1Co pounds of it in order to make
good the costs of civil war.
At first only herbs were used in the
concoction of charms, but later on the
more violent mineral posons were drawn
into the service Of the brewers. Arsenic
was literally used as a secret poison I'M
der the later Roman emperors.
In the middle ages the art does not
seem to have representation was = re-
turn to vegetable poisons-but with the
renaissance and during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries magic of all sorts
blossomed and flourished. Italy was the
mother country of most of the adopts in
poisoning and well earned her name of
"Venenosa Italia" France was her apt
pupil. A sorceres named Mireeille was
put to death in 1872, and the number of
her followers and fellow workers was
said to be 5000,
Arsenic again became the basis of all
phiters, perfumes and poisonous drinks
A whole chapter of Ambrose Pares
work on poisons is devoted to arsenic.
The antidote, he thinks, is Malvoisie
wine.
Magic unguents were made by which
persons were enabled to leave their
bodies for time and go off TO join the
witches Sabbath
Pills for sending wolves to sleep are
not so astounding in their effects. At
least, when we hear that they were com
pounded of aconite, arsenic, quicklime,
powdered glass, bitter almonds and honey
we are not surprised that the wolves "fe,t
badly" after eating them.
The number of poisoned victims in
those days was enormous, the poisons
wereuSqa mich more effcacious than the
philters! Small wonder that one Rob-
ert Fluid of Kent wrote a book and gave
us his opinion that ''phnters and charms
ara ridic,rlous dangerous and even GRIM