Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-12-20
sALUTING A SNEEZER
A CUSTOM THAT BELONGS TO EVERY
NATION AND CLINE.

~ eo e'"
Therc Are Many aud Varied Answers
I" The Question Why Do We Do Itf
IN" Was Asked by Pany Some
Niaetee" centurie" Ago.
why do we salute the sneezerw ask.
ed pliny nineteen centuries ago. We
still ask the question. and one won.
ders if Pliny could collect so many
ingenious REPLIES ns the ana of the
twentieth century furnish.
In t,,y.ons ilS3 edition ~ "rha
Collie. I.erende" ia mn account of n
pcs;i:euce in Rome in the time of Greg.
o.y ,he Great. from which many died
suddenly. I'm this manere. sometyme
sne wing thcy deyed. 40 TINT when any
her ,one was herd snesyins anona thew
TINT were by said to hym. God he,pe
YOU, or Cryst heipe. and vet endureth
the customc." AS Pope Gregory reign.
ed in the sixth century pllny,s query
far nntedates the explanation in .srhe
Golden Leccnde."
In the Buddhist Scriptures. dating
at least $50 B. C.. It ia related that
Buddhu. when preaching one dav tn
his disciples. sneezed. whereupon alI
exclaimed: "May the Blessed Lord
live! May the welcome one liye.' thus
seriously interrupting the discourse.
Buddha said. "Tell me. when person
sneezes. IL the bystnnders say .Nay
YOU live will he live the longer or
die the sooner for itw "Certainlv NOT
lordo So he forbade tben to sav II
But the people took ofrense because tho
priests did not thus salute them. and
Buddha revoked his command.
The Tulmudic tradition ia that the
custom dates from Jacob. Before his
time man did not die of disense but
when his appointed time was come he
sneezetl once and was dead Jacob no.
titioned for exemption from this law
and his nraver was GRANTED nm cond,.
tion that among nj, nations sneeza
shonld ho bo,,owed NV tho words "Co,,
bless you"
The Creeks traced tbe cnstom hock
TO the myth of prometbens who made
an image of clav md wished IN give n
life From the sun he stole y reedfpl
Of rovs md basteninu hoc,, tn b;s
statue. no nlaced tho reed nnder Ito
nostrils. producing a sneeze-n nbe-
nomenon we NAV at any time produce
Inv etand,nc IN tho s,n A. +bi. ,,,,,,
OF iife IN his creation Prometheus ejac-
ulnted a blessing and prayer for its
preservation, ana this response to
sneeze has been handed down through
all generations.
Also In the story of the Shunamite
child restored to life by the prophet
Elisha do we ind the idea that this
coavulsive effort OF nature is the first
sign OF life. 1.-The child sneezed seven
times. and the child opened his eyes"
ssAccofaing TO scottish -foikiorc, 2 new
porn chiid IS under tne FAIRY spells un-
vi II sneezes. Aristotle mentions the
practice OF physicians VINO, when death
seems near, give medicines to induce
sneezing. hoping thereby to arouse the
Iaiilns facultles. Aristotie seems to
nave given much attention to omens
OF sneezing. lie says a sneeze on the
right hand brings good fortune; on the
ieit hand 1t oetokens Ill.
In the odyssey, when Penelope calls
on the absent Ulysses to punish wrong:
Telemachus then sneezed aloud.
Ihe smiling queen the happy omen bless
$50 NAV tbesa ,r,n,o,s ,,u hv cot. ,,-
pressed"
St Augustine records that when tho
ancicnts arose in the morning if thew
sneezea vh;,a nutt,ng IN tbo;r snoa,
thew Immediately went bock 70 he'd
again in order to pet nm moro ms
piciousIy and so esoane misfortnnes
likely to occur during tho dov If a
Hindoo sneezos wh,Ie narformino ~.
morning nbmtions IN the Canoes he
touches His forehead nose chin md
recommenccs his nrayers from the very
hep,nn,np In illness rnaey,n, 10 COW
sidered good omen n s;cn of return.
inu heolth Howell I'm 1a5o said "uo
that hath sneezad twice t,,rn him ort
of the hosnital" Among tho onc,ents
II any one SQeeZeQ directly after din
ner dish was brought hack and +ost.
ed to ayert misfortune
The, custom Of saut,nu ha,onys 70
every nation md cline In Eth,o,,,o
when the king sneezed those ohont
him saluted so loudlv tbot they wero
henri and echoed throngh tho whole
city. In 15ao De Soto had mn inter.
view In Florida with a caciaue who
durinp conversation honnaned IN
=, w
heads onencd and closed their arms
and so,nted tho nrInce with ..AIov tha
curS tv,,nr1 ro,, china or y,o,, doP,,d
a. =,