Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-04-02
cURIosITIEs OF CHARMS.
Heart of Dove For Faithful Woman
Pick For Toothache.

Heart of Dove For Faithful Woman.
Pick For Toothache.
All the world over, in both uncivil-
lied areas and such enlightened coun-
tries as Great Britain, there are many
people who still place their implicit
trust in a charm to bring them good
fortune and in not a few cases will ex-
pect 1t to heal them Of diseases, says
Tit Bits. The tongues Of animals have
been and are still favorite amulets. A
tongue cut from living fox is said to
ward off disease of all kinds, but as
/ the person carrying it will surely die
IL he happens to meet a fox at any
crossroad the charm is seldom used.
The tongue of the vulture plucked out
with iron and hung about mans neck
in a new cloth will bring him what he
desires and some Indians believe that
IL they do not bite off the tip Of the
tongue of any wild animal they kill,
they will not have good luck In hunt
ing.
Feathers Of birds, too, have also been
used from earliest times to insure
luck. good and evil. If the feathers Of
vulture are burned the smell drives
away serpents and other evil spirits.
If the feathers of the right wing of
a blackbird are hung up In the middle
of the house on red thread which has
never been used no one will be able
to sleep in that house until the wing
has been taken down. Esquimos court
good favor by flying feathers from the
golden eagle at the bows OF their
boats.
Friends can also be frightened away
by means of a vulture's heart bound
up in a lion or wolf skin. The head
of a kite bird worn on the breast, ac-
cording to our forefathers, brought the
love and favor Of all men and women,
while IL the heart Of an owl was laid
on the left side Of sleeping woman
she would confess to all the wrong she
had done. If a woman wore the heart
of a turtle dove wrapped in the skin
of a wolf she would ever after be
faithful The Irish believe that to nail
bat over the house door prevents the
magician from entering. A saying
which curiously is still current Is that
IL one picks his teeth with the nail of
the middle toe of an owl he will never
have the toothache.
The natives Of Bernia, in West Afri-
ca, keep the bones and nails Of ele-
phants as charms for good luck The
people of upper Egypt prize very high
ly the tufts of hair from the name
of the hyena, and the skin of this anil
NAL will secure for the possessor love
and faithfulness Of husband or wife
as we'll as the favor Of the great.
The Singhalese believe the monkey
to be entitled to sacred honors and that
any house built on the bones of one OF
these animals will be cursed. The Wis
itor to Mourzak, in Central Africa, will
be somewhat surprised to see the heads
of asses arranged around the gardens
of the native. These are placed there
to ward off evil spirits. The Chinese
sleep quite peaceably at night II an
image of a cat is on the roof Of the
house.
Sufferers from gout have been known
to wear tied around their legs a blue
ribbon which is studded with shells of
gray snails. This Is said to allay the
pain. Lord Bacon says, "a band of
green periwinkles tied about the calf
Of the Leg or wearing on the finger
rings made of seahorse teeth" Will
cure cramp. So firm is the trust OF the
natives in these charms that IN some
parts of the world they are never
known to take medicine In Central
Africa, for instance, the natives sim
ply cut their nails and tying them to
the back of a crawfish throw the crus-
tacean over their shoulder into the riv-
er or sea without looking at 1t, believ-
ing the disease will go.
Gamblers are among the most su-
perstitious people to be found and
scarcely any will dare to enter the
Casino without their favorite charm. A
gruesome little mascot took the form
Of the right fore finger bone of a man
who was the seventh son Of seventh
son. This, strangely enough, was car
ried by a we'll known theatrical lady,
in the form Of brooch, when she
visited Monte Carlo.
Among others of special interest are
catskins, which are worn from the
neck; a human knee bone, an owls
heart, a small red feather and the tail
Of lizard.