The daily Alaskan., 1906-04-07
sALUTING A SNEEzEB
A CUSTOM THAT BELONGS TO EVERY
 NATION AND CLIMB,

That Was Asked by Pliny some
 Nineteen Centuries Ago.
 ''Why do we salute the sneezer?' ask ed PIiny nineteen centuries ago, We still ask the question, and one won ders If Pliny could collect so many ingenious replies as the ma of the twentieth century furnish.
 In Caxton's 14sS edition of "Ths Golden Legende" Is an account of q pestIlence In Rome in the time of Greg ory the Great, from which many died suddenly. "In this manere, sometyme ,snesying they deyed, so that when any persone was herd snesying, anone they that were by said to hym, God helpe you, or Cryst helpe, and yet endureth the custome." As Pope Gregory reign ed In the sixth century Pllny's query far antedatas the explanation in "The Golden Legende."
 In the Buddhist Scriptures, dating at least 25O B. C., it Is related that Buddha, when preaching one day to his disciples, sneezed, whereupon all exclaimed May the Blessed Lord live! May the welcome one live" thus seriously interruptlng the discourse. Buddha said, "Tell me, when person sneezes, it the bystanders say, May you live will he live the longer or die the sooner for it?" Certainly not. lord" So be forbade them to say It.. But the people took ofreuse because the priests did not thus salute them, and Buddha revoked his command.
 The Talmudic tradition Is that the custom dates from Jacob. Before his time man did not die of disease, but when his appointed time was come he sneezed once and was dead. Jacob pc, titioned for exemption from this law, and his prayer was granted on condl- ton that among all nations sneeze should be hallowed by the words, God bless you"
 The Greeks traced the custom back to the myth of Prometheus, who made an image of clay and wished to give it life. From the sun he stole a reedful of rays, and, hastening back to his statue, he placed the reed under its nostrIls, producing a sneeze-a phe- nomenOn we may at any time produce by standing In the sun. At this sign of life in his creation Prometheus ejac ulated a blessing and a prayer for its preservation, and this response to a sueeze has been handed down through ali generations.
 Also in the story of the Shunamite child restored to life b. the prOphe' Elisha do we find the idea that this convulsive effort of nature is the first sign of life. "The child sneeZed seven times. and the child opened his eyes. According to Scottish folklore, new born child is under the fairy spells un- til it sneezes. Aristotle mentions the practice of physicians who, when death seems near, give medicines to in&uce sneezing. hoping thereby to arouse the failing faculties. Aristotle seems to have given much attention to Omens Of sneezing. He says sneeze on the right hand brings good fortune; on the left hand it betokens i'll.
 In the Odyssey, when Penelope calls on the absent Ulysses to punish wrong:
 Telemachus then sneezed aloud.
 The smiling queen the happy omen bless
 ed,
 "so may these Impious fall by fate op-
 pressed
 St. Augustine records that when the ancients arose in the morning If they sneezed while putting on their shoes they immediately went back to bed again In order to get up more aus plclously and so escape mIsfOrtunes likely to occur during the day. If @ Hindoo sneezes while performing his morning abfutions in the .Ganges he toucleS his forehead, nose, chin and cheeks with the tips of his fingers and recommences his prayers from the very beginning. In illness sneezing is con Sidered a good omen, a sign of return Ing health. Howell in 1859 said, He that hath sneezed twice, turn him out of the hospital" Among the anCients if any one sneezed directly after din ner a dish was brought back and tast- ed to avert misfortune.
 The custom of saluting belongs to every nation and cline. In Ethiopia when the king sneezed those about him saluted so loudly that they were heard and echoed through the whole city. In 1542 De Soto had an inter- view in Florida with a cacique who during conversation happened to sneeze. All hls attendants bowed their heads, opened and closed their arms and saluted the prince with May the sun guard you, shine on you, defend you, prosper you" and similar phrases. An Italian child's primer of 1853 says, Being prompt In salutlng any one who may sneeze and returning thanks to any who on such an occasion may have wished you we'll"
 An epigram in the Greek anthology shows 1t was customary to say God bless you" The ancient Romans said -Salve." The modern Roman of the lower class says, 'Figli msschl' CMay you have male children). The north tfNy.,,,. r.r,5 sp n