The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-28
Potatoes for Warts. Eggs for the Ague
and Many singular Amulets
Tint Are I'm Vogue.
TALIsMANs FOR SIMPLE MINDED
AMULETs TO WARD OFF ILL-LUCK
COMPOSED OF FUNNY THINGS.
Incredible ns Ii May Seem, Many Peo-
pie To-day Indulge I'm Much
superstitiOus Nonsense.

'T was much interested in the article that
appeared in the Journal two Sundays ago
on the quaint medical advice found in an
ancient book written by John Wesley" said
DR.. w. B. Fletcher one afternoon last
week. land IL occurred to me that many
OF those laughable receipts for the cure
Of various maladies are still being observed
by some people in the world. Medicine has
by no means outgrown superstition. Take,
for instance. the boy with warts on his
hand and you will find that nine times out
OF ten somebody urges him to rub the warts
with a piece of potato and then bury the
potato as the only sure method OF getting
rid OF the Objectionable blemishes, for. of
course. as everybody knows, when the po-
tato has rotted away the warts must neces-
sarily disappear. And then, too. 1 over
heard some school children recently adopt
ing Huckleberry Firms wonderful cure:
they were rubbing some stagnant rain
water on their hands while grooming the
magic words:
Barley corn, barley corn. InjuH meal
shorts.
spunk water, spunk water, swaller these
warts.
lone would find upon investigation that
=ith medicine are to be found to-day every
where in this presumably enlightened age,
and that many people are still faithful to
old-time beliefs. ridiculous as they may be.
In some parts of the world there still lin
gers strong sentiment in favor of spiders
for the curing of ague. In the olden days
the fact that spiders could cure all troubles
of this kind was too incontestably estab-
lished by the physicians to admit of any
doubt whatever. / have an old book
printed in London a hundred years ago.
which gives among other things one Elias
Ashmole's evidence in connection with his
own case which would seem to be proof
conclusive. Elias says that he took a good
dose OF elixir early in the morning and
hung three spiders around his neck. and
that by nightfaIl his ague had vanished en-
trely.
CHARM FOR AGUE.
I'm another old-time volume. Skippon's
account of q Journey through the Low
Countries the author makes mention of
the lectures of Ferrarius and his narrative
concerning the cure of the ague of a Span
ish lieutenant by writing on a paper the
words Zebra fuge' and cutting of a letter
from. the paper every day, observing that
the distemper was abating accordingly,
until. when ne had cut of the letter r
last of all, the ague had left him. In the
same year. the lecturer had declared, fifty
more people were reported TO be cured in
the same manner Another charm for
ague that was popular two centuries ago.
and which doubtless has not gone out of
existence altogether was a verse called up
the chimney by the eldest of the family, on
st. Agnus eve. 1t ran thus:
'Tremble and go.
First day shiver and burn;
Tremble and quake!
Second day shiver and learn;
Tremble and die,
Third day never return.
Some cunning people used to go at dead
OF night five different times to the nearest
crossroad and there bury a new-laid egg
or course. the ague was in 1t. But they
had to take good care not to speak to any
body, for that would have broken the
charm. IL not the egg. Other persons OF
equal sense would break sailed cake of
bran and give 1t to a dog when they felt
the mt coming on. The ague for some un-
accountable reason, would pass into the
bran. and the dog would get it. thus DESERT
ing the fortunate patient.
But / think that the treatment of sick
children prescribed by the old-time medical
counselors was the most ingenious of all.
Parents who had children i'll with whoop-
Ing cough were advised to look out for
some one on a piebald horse and ask him
for the property remedy for curing the
malady. Whatever he named was certain
TO prove infallible. The treatment of rick
cts was interesting. TO say the least.
tree. preferably an ash was split longitude
nally about five feet and the assure was
kept open by the gardner while the parents
of the sick child. having first stripped him
naked, passed him through 1t three times.
head foremost. This ACCOMPLISHED. the
tree was bound up with stout cords and
as the bark healed so IL was said the child
would recover Not only trees but stones
were used; for a rickety child to Green
through perforated stone was considered
almost as sure cure as having him passed
through an ash tree.
TALISMANS WORN
Talismans and amulets for the cure of
various malades are worn to this very
day. not only by the ignorant and uneduca-
ted people. either. / noticed one afternoon
at a swimming bathhouse here in Indian
apolis bright-looking boy wearing a
string around his neck TO which was at
taehed a little leather bag. He wouldn't
tell me what was in the bag, but said.
not without some PRIDE that IL was a
charm that drove away rheumatism He
always wore IL next his skin, he said. and
wouldn't take ii OF for any consideration.
The difference between a talsman and an
amulet. Pettigrew explains in an old
book on "Superstitions Connected with
Medicine. is this: A talisman may be de-
posted In any place or carried about the
person without losing its efficacy, while
an amulet must be constantly worn about
the person OF the Individual who hopes
to reap the benefit of its magic properties
In the old days the amulet was made up
of various things-objects selected either
from the animal. vegetable or mineral
kingdoms. pieces OF old rags or garments.
scraps OF writing in illegible Characters or
almost anything else that was supposed
10 contain magic power. Sir Walter Scott
had In his possession one OF these pretended
wonders taken from an old woman who
was said TO enchsnt and injure her neigh
bors cattle. II consisted OF feathers, par
ings OF nails. hair and such like trash. all
wrapped up carefully In a lump OF clay.
II suppose that the amulets worn by