The St. Johns herald., 1899-01-14
sUPERsTITIoNs ABouTIRoN
Were Prevalent in Ancient Times and
 Still Have Local Existence,

still Have Local Existence.
 In Egypt iron was nominally accGrs- ed, even when people used it all day long and every day. It was "the inn pure metar'-'the bones of Typhon." father of evil. No man could touch it without sin; he must do penance and make atOnement. That was the theory as long as the Egyptian race endured; in practice iron had been handled free ly for several thousand years. The only piece of metal found in the great pyra- mid was an iron bar. The same con- fiict of ancient faith with growing con- venience was urged everywhere, no doubt; but the record does not exist It was lost before the classic time, and so Greek and Roman sages puzzled over odd little customs handed dswn from days of old. Cicero asked in vain why tool of iron must not be brought h. to the sacred grove of theArvals-or if by the sacrifice of pig or a lamb; and Plutarch wondered why the ArchOn of Plataea might not touch iron except at the yearly festival commemorating the triumph of Greece. There Is no end to such instances. The sacred old POns Sublicius had to be repaired without using iron; so had the ancient temple of Jupiter Liber-in imperial times, when the meaning of such rules was lost, special law abrogated them.
 One may survey mankind from China to Peru and find the same superstition everywhere. Iron tools were forbidden in the building of the temple at Jeru- salem. The late Rajah Vizanagram, a member of the council, a man of great learning and enlightenment, would not allow iron to be used in any building throughout his territory. He believed that an epidemic would follow. Ne groeS of the Gold coast must remove any particles of iron on their persons when consulting the fetish. Upon the other hand, sikh must always have piece of steel or iron about him. Bur ton tells how "the pious Moslem stretches out finger exclaiming, Iron! oh, thou ill-Omened onew when dust storm approaches the caravan-believ- Ing 1t to be directed by Djinn.
 In Scotland many traces survive. To use iron in kindling the 'needfre" was awful impiety. When a fisherman swears during bad weather at sea his comrades still grasp the nearest bit of metal, crying "Cauld iron." It is not so long since people thrust a nail or a knitting needle through each article of food in the house, or dipped 1t in the liquor, when a person died. This is enOugh-persOns interested In the sub ject will find reams of evidence In books devoted to folklore. We may credit that the superstition arose every where at the time when fierce invaders, armed with iron, Overran the country, massacring the helpless people and destroying the antique religion. It was the accursed metal. Afterward, by a natural process, the evil thing often came to be regarded as protection against other evil things-witches and demons and charms and death Itself. English babies were defended from fairy kidnapers by putting key, knife, pair of tOngs, above all, scissors, in the cradle. In many of these pretty tales dealing with swan maiden" the girl cannot recover her plumage because 1t is locked in chest with an iron key sometimes she gets a mortal to open the chest, and flies away upon the in- stant. In other stories she Is released by a touch of iron; in one favorite yer sion by the husband throwing his bridle at or to her-the iron bit Is fatal. London Standard.