Long Valley advocate. (Lardo, Idaho) 1904-1907, 1907-01-31
HAVE ODD BELIEFS
PET suPERsTITIoNs FOUND THE
WORLD OVER.
Strange Remedies and Means of Ward.
ing OFF Disease-Mystic Number
Barred From Austro-Hun-
garian Hospitals.

there is case of sickness in tn,
mousse and some domestic animal die,
you will find that some think the pa
tient will surely recover. The mos
persistent superstions in the worlt
are those that are based upon the
habits of animals" said DR.. ]. Dudley
Morgan, of Washington IF one /.
walking at night and spiderwet
brushes the face it is supposed. tt
mean that ghost is following. but in
daytime 1t tells that a stranger is
coming. The neigh of a horse is q
portent of death which will come from
The quarter from which his head Is
pointing when he neighs.
The hair of a dog. the skin of p
snake and the pelt of a black cat are
oeiieved to possess medicinal qualities
while the handling of toad is said to
give warts. German Canadians are
full of superstition. A white spider
crawling toward one the bowling of a
dog, the sight of a snake all foreteU
death. The killing Of a toad or the
Growing OF a hen foretells rain If the
cat washes its face it means that Wis.
ltors are coming If bee stines kill
1t and the wound will not swell
In certain district in Germany the
touch OF corpse's hand is still re.
garded as curative of many local ills
Less grewsome is the remedy for
hernia still applied in the marsh conn
try. On the night of st. John the Bap>
lists day, June "a, a patient must be
dragged through the split of a cleft
ash tree. Three men bearing the
Hrst name OF John must perform the
operation and it must be conducted in
dead silence. For erysipelas a fire is
nghted and pinch of ashes from it is
ruoped on the skin, to the accompani-
ment OF a saying to the effect that the
ashes and the sore went over the Red
sea together, the ash came back but
the sore never again.
Recently in Georgetown a notice.
man was bitten by supposed poison.
Gus snake and the old remedy of kill
ing chickens, cutting them open and
applying them to the bite until the
chickens were cold and did not turn
black was tried. Twenty-six chickens
were used on the policeman in ey.
In the wards of Garfield hosnital
last fall there was patient who in.
sisted on keeping several apples under
MS bed to help the dropsy. The things
that people will carry within their
pockets, wear around their necks or
podies or put on their fingers are
legion. Have white potato in each
pocket of your trousers and Won will
never be troubled with rheumatism or |
IL you suffer with cough and cold ex-
cndhse the potato for lump of cam. !
phor. No doubt there are some of lis
VINO now have horse chestnut-in orr
pockets or are wearing a nickel ring
several years ago the writer was in
duced by an intelligent and consid-
crate friend to wear a nutmeg for oh.
stinate boils.
In no other western Euronean
country is superstition so prevalent &c
n Austr1a-Hungary. Quite recently
ne chamDerlain's office changed the
lumber OF box IL in the Imperial opera
louse and the Imperial Court theater
because the public objected to sitting
box bearing this unlucky number.
'ut this superstition reaches its height
4 medicine. Speaking of the health
DR.. Heinrich Grun declared
nat in many instances superstition
nd especially local superstition. was
q absolute means to public health. IN
he Austrian hospitals one finds no !
ock or pavilion 13, no ward 10 or
aircase 10. Very few patients will
'nsent to be operated on on the thir