B 1,027,497 -rlA Q7 1 I I i 5.1`5 -)q. 1, IUBRARI NIV01 f OF THE "MuIC1,14xh Li I I I MEMOIRS OF Zramertcan 1 olktore 'octetp VOL. VII i1899 ANIMAL AND PLANT LORE COLLECTED FROM THE ORAL TRADITION OF ENGLISH SPEAKING FOLK EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY FANNY D. BERGEN WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JOSEPH Y. BERGEN BOSTON AND NEW YORK Publitbtt for:tbe meritan *ltsi.tore *odtetp bp HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY LONDON: DAVID NUTT, 270, 271 STRAND LEIPZIG: OTTO HARRASSOWITZ, QUERSTRASSE, 14 I899 ghibe bunbreb copies printeb, of ~imibid tb, i# AD................. Copyright, i8qc9, By THEz AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY. A4Z? rights reserved. The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass, U. S. A. Electrotyped and Printed by H. 0. Houghton and Company. PREFACE. THIS Memoir is a continuation of a collection begun in the volume entitled " Current Superstitions." The latter, which in I 896 appeared as the Fourth Memoir of the American Folk-Lore Society, may be considered as volume i. and the latter as volume ii. of the same work, and they are so referred to in the Notes, and in the common Index which appears at the end of this book. The earlier collection deals almost entirely with beliefs not of a zoological or botanical nature, while the later one comprises only the folk-lore of animals and plants. In the chapter on the causes and cure of warts, contained in "Current Superstitions," many items are recorded which might more logically have been retained for insertion in the part now issued, had it not at the time seemed advisable to make the chapter as complete as possible. In the preface to "Current Superstitions" there was narrated somewhat in detail the history of the collection of the material composing the chapters in that volume, as well as that catalogued in the present gathering of animal and plant lore. Not wishing to repeat, I may here merely mention that, with the exception of some half dozen items, the various superstitions, customs, and beliefs herein recorded have been collected entirely by verbal tradition, not from literary sources. Much has been noted directly from oral narration; the rest of the subject-matter of this volume has been obtained by correspondence. When a locality is wanting, my informant could not give one but was familiar with what was communicated. From many of the most fruitful localities for interesting folk-lore, it has not been possible to collect, or at best only an occasional stray item. In the less densely populated parts of the Southern States, in secluded parts of Canada, also in some of the very isolated New England villages and hamlets among the hills, I am convinced abundant fields await the sickle of the harvester of folklore. Here is brought together material that during many years has 279686 vi Preface. been gradually accumulating. The folk-lore of certain sections of the country is fairly well represented, but in general the chapters are but fragmentary. By the kindly help of the Rev. A. C. Waghorne, large instalments from the general folk-lore of Newfoundland are here catalogued. Particularly full are the lists of weather omens and folk-medicine from that remote island. A not inconsiderable portion of the matter contained in the present volume is reprinted, by permission, from a series of popular articles which appeared in the "Popular Science Monthly," and from a few brief papers which were printed in the "Christian Union." The very brief chapter of animal folk-names would hardly be worth incorporating in the volume except that it may serve as a hint to some other student to undertake a full and careful collection of such names. Many of these folk-names are scattered throughout scientific literature, while others are only in the speech of the common people. Popular plant-names have been omitted altogether from this volume. Nine lists of such names have been published during the last seven years in the "Journal of American Folk-Lore," and additional names are constantly being added. These catalogues will be printed as opportunity offers. The herb lists of druggists are full of interesting folk-names of plants; but without extensive travel and daily converse with the herb collectors in out-of-the-way localities, it is impossible to connect some delightfully quaint local plant-names, or those full of interesting historic suggestions, with the scientific names of the several species or the genus to which they are popularly given. It is a most interesting and valuable department in folk-lore, which up to date I have not been able to undertake in any satisfactory way. Still the collection goes on, and I hope a few more years will at least see a useful beginning in America of the work done so carefully for England by Britten and Holland, Prior, and Earle. In general the contents of the various chapters of this book have been arranged alphabetically, but occasionally, when on account of its relationship it seemed more interesting to violate the usual order, some item has been placed where it seemed philosophically to belong. For various reasons, sometimes because of the accumulation of new facts regarding them, beliefs cited in the author's " Current Superstitions " have in a few instances been again stated in the present volume. No attempt has been made at any exhaus Preface. vii tive research into the bibliography of the subject of animal and plant lore. The notes appended to the following chapters embody but a few of the many beliefs and customs that I have chanced upon, which are related to those described in the text. The beliefs not quoted from literary sources are now current, or have been so in very recent times, and have been communicated to me by friends or acquaintances, some of them of European or Asiatic birth and rearing. To the list of persons mentioned in the preface to the volume of "Current Superstitions," as having rendered valuable assistance in the collection and arrangement of the material recorded, I here wish to add the names of Mrs. Gertrude C. Davenport and Professor Charles L. Edwards. F. D. B. CAMBRIDGE, MASS., January, I899. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE INTRODUCTION........ I PART I.-ANIMAL-LORE. I. AMULETS AND CHARMS......II Amulets. — Charms: (a) Conjuring; (b) Ghosts and Witches; (c) Saliva; (d) Various. II. OMENS......... 22 Man.- Mammalian Quadrupeds. - Birds. - Reptiles. - Amphibians. - Arachnids. - Insects.- Crustaceans. III. WEATHER SIGNS.........43 Preparations of Animals for coming Changes of Weather.- The Cries or Calls of Animals. - Other Acts of Animals. - Miscellaneous Weather Omens derived from Animals. IV. INCANTATIONS AND FORMULE........56 V. FOLK-NAMES OF ANIMALS..... 6 Ants.- Ant-Lion. Bees and other Insects. -Crustaceans. - Coelentera. VI. FOLK-LORE OF ECTODERMAL STRUCTURES....65 VII. FOLK-MEDICINE....68 Blood and Raw Flesh.- Excreta.- Hair and Nail. -Oils.- Parasites.- Saliva.-Skins of Animals.-Spiders and their Webs.Transference to Animals.- Various. VIII. VARIOUS........ 8o Mammals. - Birds. - Reptiles. -Amphibians.-Fishes. -Mollusks. -Arachnids. - Insects. - Myriapods. - Crustaceans. - Echinoderms. - Various. PART II. —PLANT-LORE. IX. AMULETS, CHARMS, AND DIVINATIONS.... 99 X. OMENS....... 105 XI. WEATHER SIGNS....... 108 XII. FOLK-MEDICINE....... O XI I I. VARIOUS....... 117 NOTES. 123 INDEX...........171 I INTRODUCTION. IT would be difficult to overstate the antiquity of the folk-lore of animals and plants. Certainly prehistoric, it is very probably as old as the human race; for one cannot imagine human beings, even of the most primitive type, without a set of beliefs in regard to the other living things by which they are surrounded. Our American folk-lore is in one sense new, since some of it has sprung up in the comparatively brief time during which the country has been occupied by whites, and all of it has been subjected to the modifying influences of the environment amid which it has become concreted into a set of beliefs. But the folk-lore of English-speaking North America is in part as old as any in the world, since its origins date back to a time when none of the civilizations of to-day had begun to exist. The proof of this thesis would far outrun the limits of any brief introduction like the present one. Even a slight comparison, however, of the material which follows with that contained in the works of Dioscorides, Pliny, Virgil, Theophrastus, and other classical authorities, will suffice to show that much of our folk-lore is identical with and apparently derived from that of their time and region. A further comparison of classical animal and plant lore with that of early oriental literatures on the one hand, and with that of modern savages on the other, readily demonstrates a unity of essential type throughout, together with a marvellous agreement in many details. To cite only an example or two out of the many possible, how remarkable is the generality of the use of saliva, often with very explicit directions that it shall be fasting saliva, or shall be used a definite (magical) number of times, as a remedy for inflammations of the eyes, running back in the literature of folk-medicine at least as far as the time of Pliny, and ranging all over the world from Japan to Scotland, from Madagascar to Norway. And, again, most peoples of all times and places seem to have used the fat, the flesh, or the skins of snakes for remedial purposes, and the efficacy of such applications is as devoutly credited by the cowboy of our western plains as it was by Dioscorides or by the fathers of Chinese medicine. 2 IZntroduczion. In the notes which 'follow the superstitions and beliefs of the present volume, a good many correspondences between the folk-lore of English-speaking America and that of other countries are noted. Such cases of agreement are almost equally interesting, whether they are examples of the transmission of folk-lore or of the fact that the human mind is everywhere sufficiently the same to invent and re-invent similar explanations for imperfectly understood phenomena in the world of living beings about us. It is important to remember in this connection a few facts which the civilized adult is too likely to forget. For one thing, we must recollect that to some extent the mind of every educated man has passed during his lifetime through a rapid development from a bestial to a savage stage, and only at maturity reaches the trained and cultivated condition in which it begins to reason about itself. In other words, to borrow from the vocabulary of zoology, the mental ontogeny of each of us is an epitome of the phylogeny of the race. One needs only to recall the acts and thoughts of his earliest childhood, or to watch the development of any child, to see how much savagery we must all hurry through before our teens. The frivolity, the cruelty, the superstition, of the average little child are those of an Australian native rather than of even an American Indian. And again it must be remembered that in most civilized countries there are great numbers of people who are literally and absolutely thousands of years behind the civilization of their time. Apparently the Swabian or the Sicilian peasant is still intellectually far nearer the men of the Neolithic age (so-called) than were the better class of Athenians in the age of Pericles. In trying to solve for special cases the problem of the origin of superstitions, it is not often possible to assure one's self of the genuineness of the pedigree obtained. But it would a priori seem highly probable that the animal and plant lore of savage or of halfsavage men must often be carried over into the civilized state, just as domesticated dogs turn around before lying down on a floor because their wild ancestors formed the habit of thus turning to beat down the high grass or low bushes on which they slept. Now and then it seems pretty certain that the feelings and habits of the modern man in a given case have come straight down to him from half-wild ancestors. For instance, the impulse to kill snakes on sight, and the shrinking felt by most children at sight of snakes would be hard to explain except by reference to the savage condition, in which poisonous snakes are among the most dreaded enemies of the human race. To most of us the danger from these animals is obsolete. So it was to the monkeys with which Darwin experimented. But with us as with them the sight of the snake Introduction. 3 awakens impulses ranging back through the whole past history of the race. To the student of comparative folk-lore seeking to characterize that of English-speaking America, its most obvious feature is its matter-of-fact quality. The titles Zoological Mythology and Botanical Mythology, under which the European folk-lore of animals and plants may properly be treated, are misnomers for us. We have no mythology. As an acute reasoner on such topics once remarked to the writer, the American child no longer has an individual childhood. Soon after he is able to talk he is placed with other children in the kindergarten; from that he goes to the public school, and so, herded with other children, he has no opportunity to draw his own naive conclusions concerning the world about him. He neither dreams nor reasons; he is taught. To the American child the toad is not the incarnation of a bewitched princess, it is merely a creature which, if handled, will cause warts; the firefly is not, as in Sicily, the "little candle of the shepherd" (cannilichia di picuraru), but only a lightning-bug. So it is, too, with the plants, as regards their place in the adult mind no less than in that of the child. "The holm-oak (Quercus Ilex) in Russia has power to work miracles; the old Germans consecrated the oak to Thunar, their god of thunder; their Norse neighbors held their solemn war councils beneath some venerable oak; the Roman civic crown was of oak-leaves; the oakgroves in England's Druidical days were held sacred, but with us the oak is valued for its practical usefulness, -the bark for its capacity to tan leather, the fruit to fatten swine, and the strong, beautiful wood for making furniture and kerosene barrels." Amulets and charms with us are not such as the ring of Gyges or the talisman of Saladin, the religious charms said in the name of Jesus and St. John, with crosses and paternosters accompanying, or pagan spells like those of Merlin:Of woven paces and of waving hands. The amulet of to-day is a potato, carried in the pocket as a prophylactic against rheumatism, and the modern charm runs, for instance: Sty, sty, go off my eye, Go on the first one that passes by. A good many animals are recognized as ominous, though the omen is generally of a very simple sort, -a harbinger of death, a promise of good luck, or a threat of bad luck. The department of prognostications derived from animals most fully represented is that of weather omens. These, as is natural, most abound along the coast, and particularly on the stormy shores of Newfoundland and Labrador, where the sea is especially to be feared, and the fisherman 4 Ixtroduction. or the sailor has the least help from science in forecasting the weather. One most interesting fact, ascertained by the comparison of ancient and modern beliefs on this subject, is that of the great age of some of our popular weather signs of to-day. Many of these are cited by Theophrastus in his Weather Signs, written some three centuries before the beginning of the Christian era. His authority would seem to have been sufficient guarantee to the Greek and Latin writers who succeeded him for the truth of the statements in his fragmentary monograph. Aratus, a disciple of Theophrastus, who wrote about the middle of the third century B. c., in his Weather Forecasts substantially only gives, in a metrical paraphrase the popular weather omens recorded by Theophrastus. Probably very many beliefs regarding the power of animals to foretell coming changes of weather have, by tradition or otherwise, been handed down to us, often somewhat modified, from very early historic times, while others have arisen -even now arise - from new observations, sometimes made amid a new environment The ancient chroniclers of animal weather prophecies were, as a rule, very confident of their trustworthiness. Aristotle himself says: "Bees also have a foreknowledge of tempestuous weather and rains." Theophrastus doubts not, apparently, the general accuracy of the animal prognostications that he records. Aratus cautiously advises to confirm one omen by others: - Set light by none of these: confirm one warning By a second: two pointing to one end Strengthen belief; a third breeds confidence.' Virgil, in the Georgics, says: — Showers never hurt any unforewarned: either the airy cranes have shunned it in the deep valley as it rose; or the heifer looking up to heaven hath snuffed in the air, with wide nostrils; or the chattering swallow hath fluttered about the lakes; and the frogs croaked their old complaint in the mud.2 Lord Bacon, in his Natural History, says: "For prognostics of weather from living creatures, it is to be noted that creatures that live in the open air, sub dio, must needs have a quicker impression from the air than men that live most within doors; and especially birds who live in the air freest and clearest; and are aptest by their voice to tell tales what they find, and likewise by the motion of their flight to express the same." 3 1 Alocr7,/Lca, lines I140 to I 42. 2 Book I., lines 373 to 378. 8 Natural History, century IX., sect. 822. Inztroduction.z 5 But there is great diversity of opinion among those who have studied and written concerning animal weather-lore in very recent times. Dr. C. C. Abbott, our New Jersey naturalist, is decidedly sceptical as to the power of animals in general to forecast the weather. While he admits that special meteorological conditions may influence the actions of animals, he denies to the latter that prophetic power with which they are so often credited in regard to coming weather changes. " I have gathered," he says, "a host of sayings referring to birds and the weather, and have tested them all. Often they hold good, frequently they do not." 1 On the other hand, Charles St. John, who must certainly be reckoned an intelligent naturalist and good observer of out-of-door life, in his "Wild Sports in the Highlands " says, "There are few animals which do not afford timely and sure prognostications of changes in the weather." St. John credits wild-fowl, grouse, ducks, fish, field-mice, pigs, and sheep with knowledge of coming weather changes, and believes that they indicate the character of the changes by their behavior.2 In his "Animal Intelligence," George J. Romanes cites as a remarkable case of instinct an interesting account of the manner in which a swan raised her nest, containing eggs, two and a half feet the very day before a tremendous fall of rain, which by flooding did great damage in the neighborhood.3 For myself, I am somewhat credulous in regard to the whole matter, and doubt not that in a general way many of the weather proverbs that have arisen from observing the behavior of animals are to be trusted. It is a noteworthy fact that the United States Signal Service published a collection of weather proverbs by Lieutenant Dunwoody in I883. A revised and much enlarged edition of that work was prepared by the same department some years later, but its publication seems to have been indefinitely postponed. Folk-medicine is one of the most important subjects in American animal and plant lore. Medicine is so largely empirical, it is so difficult to be sure whether a given course of treatment has proved beneficial or not, the vis medicatrix naturce is so great and so obscure a factor in most cases, that there has always been much chance in medical practice for what might perhaps be called sincere quackery. Let it once be suggested that a given substance might cure a certain disease, and let its remedial virtues be tried in a few cases. If some of the patients recover it is sure to be argued, by a familiar process of reasoning, that the remedy effected the cure. In any new region it would be easy to trace the steps by which the 1 Days Out-of-Doors, p. 53. 2 0p. cit., pp. 307, 308. 8 09. Cit., p. 297. 6 Introduction. popular materia medica is thus enlarged, but after the addition the process can only be conjectured. The study of the considerations which suggest curative power in this or that animal or vegetable product is a most interesting one. The principle on which (to cite only one instance out of many) the little white granular roots of a common British saxifrage were supposed to form an efficient remedy for vesical calculi still flourishes among us. A common smartweed, for example, with heart-shaped marks on its leaves, is widely known as heart's-ease from its supposed value in cardiac affections. Apparently the possession of a disgusting smell or taste has often sufficed to give a substance a reputation for curative properties. Burnt feathers, angleworm oil, tar, pitch, boneset, and the host of bitters vaunted in domestic medicine must owe much of the esteem in which they are held to their unsavory qualities. It is very evident that anything singular in the aspect of a plant, above all if the singularity be of an unpleasant kind, is a strong recommendation for its adoption into the list of remedial herbs. In many cases this suggestiveness depends wholly or in part on the well-known doctrine of signatures, as it does in the reputation which many plants of the Orchis family have obtained for nervine or aphrodisiac qualities. But there are other instances, such as that of the rattlesnake-plantain, the cow-parsnip, and the whole list of plants with milky juice, which seem to owe their use in folk-medicine merely to their conspicuous or peculiar characteristics. It has been well said that "nastiness is often an element of mysteries," and no doubt the curious veneration for filth is responsible for some of the excrement-cures which are still employed in a few places and meet with implicit belief. In folk-medicine, as in the materia medica of the schools, there is a noticeable tendency to outgrow the use of remedies of animal origin, while the list of herbs credited with medicinal virtues remains a long one. General treatises on medicine two hundred years ago abounded in the most irrational and disgusting prescriptions of animal remedies. Michael Ettmiiller, in his "Opera Medica," 1 devoted nine folio pages to medicinal preparations from the human body and its excreta, of which those obtained from hair, nails, sweat, and earwax are the least filthy. No longer ago than the middle of the eighteenth century such substances as ambergris, castor, civet, "man's-grease," mummy (human), vipers, and a multitude of other equally absurd animal remedies, found a place in one of the best dispensatories of the time, Pomet's "General History of Drugs." The serious discussions in regard to the origins of such substances and the mode of making sure of their genuineness and excellence read 1 Francofurti, 1708. Introduction. 7 to-day like mere parodies on pharmacy. One is told, for instance: " You ought to be careful, likewise, that every Bundle or Parcel of vipers, which is usually a Dozen, have the Hearts and Livers along with them, these being the most noble Parts of the Animal." And again: "They are much more sprightly and gay when they are in the Field than after they are taken, because they then draw themselves up into a narrower Compass and contract their Pores." The whole descriptions of the medicinal use of vipers, of the sources and preparation of bezoar, of moss from human skulls, and so on, read like the directions for the preparation of a voodoo charm or the rabbit-foot talisman. Indeed, very little reading of old treatises on materia medica and herbals is necessary to make clear the fact that folk-medicine represents the first step of the series which ends in the scientific pharmaceutics of to-day. It is necessary to say, once for all, in regard to the items of folkmedicine contained in the following pages, that they are not inserted because they are merely fancies. Very many of the remedies cited are certainly useful; tea made from butternut bark is as efficacious as tincture of aloes or of cascara sagrada, if less expensive, and sassafras-pith makes as grateful an application for inflamed eyes as anything known to the most skilful oculist. But those medicaments which are unknown or nearly so to the modern practitioner, while they are of common use in domestic medicine among simple people, are legitimate subject-matter for any collection of folk-remedies. It should be added that the animal and plant remedies here described form but an insignificant part of the list which could be collected within the limits of the United States and Canada, since every region has drawn largely upon its own local fauna and flora for medicinal use. Such incantations or rhymed addresses to animals as are given in the following pages cannot be produced in any considerable numbers except in countries where there exists a genuine peasant class. Nor can any interesting body of animal and plant lore arise or long continue except where the common people, among whom it flourishes, are brought into daily familiar contact with nature. It is in the more remote and unsettled portions of the country, such regions as the woods of Maine, Canada, and Michigan, the sparsely peopled parts of the Appalachian ridges and plateaux, the backwoods of Missouri and Arkansas, and the outlying parishes of Louisiana, that one can collect the most and the most interesting natural history lore. It would not, however, by any means be allowable to formulate a law to the effect that the number of superstitions relating to animals and plants was directly proportional to the distance of a region from the great cities, or inversely proportional to the density 8 8Introduction. of the population in a given territory. Other factors are to be taken into account, and isolated California ranches would usually be found a much less interesting collecting ground for the folk-lorist than the long-settled, close-neighboring farms of eastern Pennsylvania. Illiteracy helps superstitions to flourish, and it is evident that a very moderate amount of education would banish the belief in hoopsnakes, in voodoo charms, and in lightning-shattered splinters as a cure for toothache. But mere stolid ignorance is not enough to foster varied and peculiar superstitions: it is essential that the originators of such fancies should be imaginative. And so the buzzard-talk and the Brer Rabbit stories of the negro are far more original and interesting than anything which his poor white neighbor has invented. As I have suggested in an earlier paragraph, much of our folklore is of Old World origin. Considering that we have perhaps the most mixed population on earth, it could not be otherwise; our folklore must be a compound of the most various ingredients. If we cannot detect in it morsels from every country in Europe, from half the tribes of Africa, from a large part of Asia and the great Pacific islands, as well as from many tribes of American Indians, it is only because our analysis is not sufficiently minute. The present is the time, while the fragments of the folk-lore of English - speaking America are only cemented into an angular breccia, to gather specimens of the mass from as many parts of it as may be. When the materials shall have been worked over into a compact whole, and when our superstitions shall have been catalogued with the fulness and care with which those of Great Britain or of Germany have been set down, there will be a chance for some one to do for American folk-lore what Simrock, Grimm, and Wuttke have severally done for that of Germany. CAMBRIDGE, MASS., January 31, 1899. PART I. ANIMAL-LORE, CHAPTER I. AMULETS AND CHARMS. AMULETS. I. For cramps wear a bone from the head of a cod. Newfoundland. 2. A fin-bone of the haddock (if the fish is caught without touching the boat) will cure cramp. Green Harbor, Trinity Bay, N. F. 3. A fin-bone of the haddock, taken from the living fish without the knowledge of other persons, and worn in a bag, will cure toothache. Labrador (Mountain Indians), Trinity Bay, N. F. 4. A fin-bone of the haddock, carried in the pocket, will cure rheumatism. Scilly Cove, Trinity Bay, N. F. 5. A small serrated bone found in the head of a codfish is carried as a "lucky bone." New England. 6. A small bone from the head of a gar is carried as a "lucky bone." Western Central States. 7. A smooth white "stone" found in the nest of a fishing-hawk is carried for luck. This is probably a small bone from the head of a perch or other fish. Chestertown, Md. 8. Smoothly polished pebbles are carried for good luck, and are called "lucky stones." Chestertown, Md. 9. Two little bones found in the head of a certain fish are called lucky stones; but the good luck comes only after they are lost. Fort Worth, Tex. I. A small bone cut from a living turtle is carried as a "lucky bone." New England. I 1. When the king-crab has a single claw (one half gone), break it off and carry it for luck. It is called a "lucky claw." Cohasset, Mass. 12 Animal-Lore. 12. The left hind claw (hallux) of a crow is carried about for a "luck charm." Cambridge, Mass. I3. The globular head of the femur of a pig is kept in a box or bureau drawer as a " lucky bone." Petit Codiac, N. B., and Baltimore, Md. (negro). 14. A veal bone, probably the head of the femur, is kept as a "lucky bone." Central New York. 5. Gyrinidc are called "lucky bugs, or " dollar bugs," because it is said that if you catch one in the hand you '11 find a dollar in it. In some places it is believed that the capture of a "lucky bug" brings good fortune; if you catch a "lucky bug," bury him, and make a wish; you will get your wish. Eastern Massachusetts. 16. A "luck egg" is the egg of a rooster; also called "rooster's egg." De Kalb Co., IlI. I7. It is customary to tell children in a half-laughing way that "luck eggs " are rooster's eggs. Bathurst, N. B. I8. The small eggs dropped at the end of the laying season are kept under the name of "luck eggs" to bring good fortune to the owner. Maine and Northern Ohio. 19. When one finds a "luck egg," to avert evil he should throw the egg over the barn or house, and also stand so that the egg shall be thrown over his right shoulder. Bucks Co., Pa., and Ohio. 20. Wearing a buzzard feather behind the ear will prevent rheumatism. Alabama. 2I. Mole-paws are sometimes carried around the neck as charms. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 22. Carry the hindfoot of a rabbit in the pocket for luck. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 23. The left hindfoot of a graveyard rabbit, carried in the pocket on the right side, will bring good luck. Southern States. 24. A Texas rabbit's ear brings good luck to a person, if carried near the heart. Alabama. 25. Snail-shells are said to bring good luck. Alabama. Amulets and Charms. I3 26. If you put a string of rattlesnake bones around your neck, it will keep you safe from all harm. Alabama. 27. If you carry a rattlesnake's rattle, it will cure or prevent rheumatism. Kansas. 28. Headache may be cured by wearing the rattles of a rattlesnake in the lining of the hat. Western and Southwestern United States. 29. Rattlesnakes' rattles are used to prevent children from having pain while teething. The necklace is hung around the child's neck. New Orleans, La. (negro). 30. A portion of the skin of a rattlesnake, if carried in the pocket, will bring good luck to the person who carries it. Lawrence, Kan. 3r. The skin of a rattlesnake worn around the waist next the skin will prolong life. Alma, Kan. (negro). 32. If a spider spin down on or near you, pick it up and put it in your pocket, and it will bring you money. Plymouth, Ohio. 33. If a hog's tooth be carried in the pocket, the bearer will never have the toothache. Pennsylvania. 34. Indians use a bear's tooth attached to scissors to cure the toothache. Labrador. 35. A deer's tooth is worn by teething children to assist them in cutting the teeth. Girls wear a stag's tooth, boys the tooth of a doe. Bay of Islands, N. F. 36. A bone from a stag's breast or a deer's tooth is worn attached to the neck to prevent fits and spasms. Bay of Islands, N. F. CHARMS. (a.), Conjuring. 37. When one negro digs around another's door, he is said to have conjured him. Alabama. 38. If a person is conjured, and draws a magic circle and stands in it, he is freed from the spell. Alabama. 39. Burying a hair-ball (from a cow's stomach) under an enemy's 14 Animal-LLLore. doorstep will work a spell on him. Carrying such a ball will protect one from spells. Georgia and South Carolina. 40. A hen's egg, set on end and buried in the dust of the road, with gunpowder stirred into the broken end, is used to work spells. Chestertown, Md. (negro). Less than ten years ago. 41. The footprints of a person leaving home have been taken up by digging around them so as not to break or disturb them, then put in a box and kept under the bed, probably to work a spell. Chestertown, Md. 42. A "conjure-bottle" is an article that creates much terror among the superstitious negroes. They are prepared in different ways. One is a large snuff-bottle, containing vinegar and some other liquid ingredient, and another a bag filled with coarse white sand and large red ants. Alabama. 43. A little powder, made of ground-up snake skin, put in your food, will cause a snake to "breed" in you. This is used to work evil on one's enemies. Baltimore, Md. (negro). 44. An old darky "went lame," and on being asked what was the trouble with him, said a snake had been conjured into his leg. Chestertown, Md. 45. Put a live toad into a box perforated with small holes, and set it on an ant-hill. Leave it for several days, until the toad shall die and the ants clean the bones. Wrap up the skeleton and put it under your pillow for three nights, and you will dream of your future husband. Winn, Me. 46. Shut a toad in a box bored full of holes, place near an anthill, and leave it until the toad dies and the ants clean the bones. A certain hook-shaped bone is to be taken as a love charm. If this is fastened in the sleeve of a girl she will marry you. Pennsylvania. 47. Conjurers throw lizards into people by putting a lizard in a bottle and placing it in the road where the victim will step over it. A person so attacked dies in agony. Arkansas (negro). 48. Get some ground-puppies (i. e. salamanders, sometimes called ground-dogs). Put them in a bottle and bury them under the threshold of the person whom you wish to conjure, making crosses with the four fingers on the earth above them. After a time the ground-puppies will burst the bottle that holds them, and then they will get into the stomach of the person against whom the spell is Amulets and Charms. 15 directed, and kill him. The animals can be driven out by taking May-apple root or snakeroot soaked in whiskey. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 49. A young negro woman employed as cook seemed to be in a queer nervous condition, absent-minded and forgetful. When asked about herself, she said that some woman on the street had torn a piece out of her (the sick woman's) dress, and buried it against her, to put a spell on her. And then, too, she said, another woman had sowed salt against her, and said something to put a spell on her. Chestertown, Md. (recent). (b.) Ghosts and Witches. 50. A stake is sometimes driven by negroes through a grave as soon as one is buried, to keep the spirit from haunting. South Carolina coast. 5. After a death in the house, change the position of the doorknobs, that the ghost may not find his way in. Norfolk, Va. (negro). 52. Read the Bible backward and it will keep a ghost from coming in. Read it forward and it will keep a ghost from harming you. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 53. A ghost can be shot with a silver bullet. Chestertown, Md. 54. Witches may be killed by drawing their pictures and shooting them with silver bullets. Alabama. 55. By marking on a board the figure of an enemy, and then shooting the image, acute pain may be caused in the same part of the person represented that has been pierced by the bullet in the picture. The suffering of the injured person can be relieved only by the aid of the one who fired the shot. Mitchell Co., N. C. (Said to be true within the last ten years). 56. A man can "spell a gun" so that the gun will not hit anything. Mitchell Co., N. C. 57. One who always carries silver about his person will never be ridden by witches. Alabama. 58. Pans or pails of water are placed about the kitchen at night for the witches to drink. Should they come and not find any they will ride some one of the family all night. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 59. Witches can turn milk into clabber very soon, but this may be prevented by putting a silver coin in the milk. Alabama. 16 Animal-Lore. 60. If you are troubled by witches, put a sifter under your doorstep, and the witches will be unable to cross the threshold until they have counted, one by one, the spaces between the wires of the sieve. Alabama. 6i. Hang a sieve over the door and it will keep the witches out of the room or house, for the witches cannot enter until they have crawled through every mesh. So it will take all night, and leave no time for them to get in. Chestertown, Md. 62. To prevent nightmare and to keep away the witches, put a fork under your pillow. Alabama. 63. To remove the spell from one that has been bewitched, take the parings of the toe and finger nails of the person bewitched and bury them at midnight at the foot of a white-oak tree. Westport, Mass. 64. If you jump into 'a whirlwind and stick a knife down into it, you can see the devil. Chestertown, Md. (c.) Saliva. 65. Spit on a piece of money for luck before pocketing it. New Hampshire. 66. If your left hand itches, it is a sign of money. Spit on your hand and you will keep the money. Maine and Massachusetts. 67. If the left hand itch, one should instantly spit on it and rub it on the side or hip. He will then soon receive money. Central Maine. 68. If the left hand itches, spit on it and put it in your pocket, and you will bring yourself money. Portland, Me., and Eastern Massachusetts. 69. Spitting on the hands aids in mechanical operations, as chopping, wielding a sledge, etc. General in the United States. 70. Spitting on the hands before striking a blow with the fist is believed to make the blow heavier. General in the United States. 7r. Spit on wood when it won't split, to make it split. Cambridge, Mass. (boys' saying). 72. Children, in making a promise, wet the forefinger in spittle and cross the throat, meaning "I 'll cut my throat if I tell." Eastern Massachusetts. 73. Trappers spit on the bait of traps which they set for foxes. Central Maine. Amulets and Charms. 17 74. Spitting on fish-bait will cause the fish to bite. General in the United States. 75. If you see a dead mouse, you must spit three times or you '11 taste it for supper. Boston, Mass. (children). 76. Dead dogs, cats, etc., by the roadside may give the passer-by the itch. This can be prevented by spitting three times on the carrion. Portland, Me., and Boston, Mass. (fifty years ago). 77. It is unlucky to meet a cross-eyed person, but the ill-fortune may be averted by spitting. Somewhat general in the United States. 78. Spitting over the little finger of the right hand at the sight of a white horse will bring good luck. St. John, N. B., Eastern Massachusetts, and Illinois. 79. Tawny and brown caterpillars are called "fever-worms." One must spit on meeting one of these to keep off fever. Louisville, Ky. 80. If a bird flies into the house, it signifies death. To ward off the omen, spit on the floor, draw a circle around the saliva, then walk around the circle with the back to it, and spit a second time. Missouri (negro). 81. You must not cross the trail of a snake until you have made a cross in the trail and spat in it. Otherwise the devil will follow you. Negroes in the South. 82. When a rabbit crosses the road in front of one, the person should squat down in the middle of the road, make a cross in the sand, and spit in it. Southern States. 83. It is bad luck to turn back after starting on a journey; if you do, make a cross-mark on the ground and spit in it. Talladega, Ala. 84. If live coals are brought to make a fire in a stove where other live coals are already, one must spit on the new coals before putting them in, or there will be a fuss in the family. Chestertown, Md. 85. The bad luck presaged by turning a garment that has been put on wrong side out may be averted by spitting on it before reversing it. Central Maine. 86. Ill-luck threatened to those who walk beneath a ladder leaning against a building may be averted by spitting (which is frequently done for this purpose). St. John, N. B. I8 Animal-Lore. 87. When the ear burns, it is a sign that some one is talking about you. Wet the forefinger in the mouth, and rub the ear with the forefinger and thumb, saying about the one supposed to be talking about you:If good, good betide you, and If bad, may the Devil ride you. or, in Baltimore, Md.:If it's good, may the Lord bless you; If it's bad, may the Devil take you. 88. Boys out bird's-nesting endeavored to find the direction of the nest by spitting in the palm of the hand and striking it with the forefinger of the other hand, at the same time saying: — Spit, spat, spot, Tell me where that bird's-nest is. The direction of the largest drop of saliva spattered away by the finger pointed out the nest. Salem, Mass. (seventy to eighty years ago). 89. Boys who have lost a ball spit in the palm of the hand and strike the spittle with the forefinger, repeating:Spitter, spatter, Which way's that ball gone? New Hampshire (forty orfifty years ago). 90. Children spit in the palm of the hand and strike the mass of spittle with the other, saying:Spit, spat, spo! Where'd that go? The flying spittle gives the direction of a lost article sought. Salem, Mass. 91. To find a lost article, spit in the palm of the left hand, hold the forefinger of the right suspended, and say:Spit, spit, I've lost my pin, Tell me what corner I'11 find it in. Strike the saliva with the right forefinger, and notice the direction in which it flies; that will be the direction of the lost article. Missouri (negro). 92. To find lost cattle or any lost articles, strike a drop of spit on the palm of the hand. Pennsylvania. Amulets and Charms. 19 93. Spitting on the palm of the hand or on the inner side of the wrist will recall to the memory where a mislaid article is. Salem, Mass. 94. Spitting on a hot shovel serves as a means of divination. One's future home is in the direction taken by the moving bubble. If it remains stationary, the one who is trying the oracle will remain where he is. Northern Ohio. 95. If you spit on any one he will live longer, and you will shorten your own life by giving part of it. Winnebago Indians. 96. Indians, after spitting, cover up the saliva from sight, that they may not be injured by anything which enemies can do to the saliva. Columbia River Indians. 97. Indians not on reservations were noticed by Captain John G. Bourke taking pains to spit only on their blankets or mantles.. Southwestern United States. 98. Spitting in a hole in the ground was one of the ceremonies observed in making peace with the Apaches more than half a century ago. Rio Gila. 99. Pain in the side, induced by running or by very fast walking, may be cured by lifting a stone, spitting on its under surface, and replacing it. Central Maine, Dorchester, Ont., Pennsylvania, and Northern Ohio. Ioo. If the right foot is "asleep," moisten the right forefinger with saliva and rub the right eyebrow; if the left foot, moisten the left forefinger and rub the left eyebrow. Cape Breton (in a small Gaelic-speaking community). Ioi. To drive away cramp or "sleepiness" in the sole of the foot, make a cross on the shoe with spittle. Newfoundland. I02. When the foot is "asleep," cross the top of it or the sole with the tip of the forefinger, moistened with saliva. Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Or rub saliva on the knee under the hamstring. Ohio. 103. Break off twenty-five stems of plants with "toad-spit" on them, then wish and your wish will be granted. Ipswich, Mass. 20 Animal-Lore. (d.) Various. 104. Rupture in a child or the shingles may be cured by passing the little patient three times under the belly of an ass, with the sun. Carbonear, N. F. 105. To keep sickness out of the family, cut off the end of a black cat's tail and bury it under the doorsteps. Alabama. xo6. Lumbermen wrap themselves in a fresh deerskin to keep off witches. Canada. 107. Kill the dog that bit you and you will not die with hydrophobia. Eastern Kansas. io8. Cut off the end of a dog's tail and put it under the doorstep, and it will keep him from running away. Chestertown, Ad. io9. The howling of dogs may be stopped by wishing it to stop and clucking with the teeth. Battle Harbor, Lab. ITo. A dog may be stopped from howling by turning a shoe upside down. Chestertown, Md. III. Cramps in your feet may always be prevented if you will turn your shoes upside down over night beside your bed. Eastern Kansas. I 12. If you hear a screech-owl cry, there is going to be a death in the family; but take off your shoe and turn it over, and the owl will cease " hollowing." Alabama. I13. If, when hearing an owl or other bird of ill-omen, the person pull off some article of clothing and put it on wrong side out, the bird will leave and no harm befall. Kansas. I i4. To stop the cry of an owl, tie a knot in the corner of your handkerchief, or turn your pocket wrong side out. Alabama. II I. If you hear an owl at night, take a broom and lay it across the door, and he will stop immediately. Alabama. I I6. If, when a screech-owl is heard, one throws salt in the fire, it will stop the bird from screaming and evil spirits from lingering near the home. Alabama. Amulets and Charms. 21 I 7. To prevent an owl from hooting, heat the poker red hot, as this will burn his toes, and he will quit hooting in order to go to running water to cure the burn. Alabama. I I8. If a horseshoe is kept in the fire, it will keep hawks from the poultry. Kansas and Alabama. 119. Keep flint stones in the fire to keep the hawks away from the chickens. Mitchell Co., N. C., and Alabama. I20. If you are troubled with nightmare, put a "rock" in the fire. Alabama. 121. Heating a poker hot and putting it into soap that has been bewitched will act as a counter-charm, and the witch at the same time will be burned. Practisedfifty years ago in New England and New York. 122. When the cream has been bewitched, if a horseshoe be heated red-hot and thrown into a churn, it will make the butter come. Vermont (thirtyfiveyears ago). 123. When the whip-poor-will cries, it is a sign of death; but if you point your finger directly at the head of the bird it will avert the evil effects. New Hampshire. 124. Burn egg-shells to avert bad luck. Cap~e Breton. CHAPTER II. OMENS. MAN. 125. It is a common belief that those born with a caul over the face can see ghosts. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 126. Witches, or bad women, or women with an evil eye, who have a grudge against a person, by casting the eye on a cow can bewitch the milk so it will not make butter. Cape Breton. 127. The power of a person with the evil eye, or a "witch-like person," can be overcome by sticking an awl in her back. Miramichi, N. B. 128. An evil-eyed person's bewitching of butter may be overcome by putting a horseshoe under the churn. New Brunswick. 129. It is such bad luck to meet a cross-eyed person, that one must at once turn back into the house. Hartford, Conn. 130. It is unlucky to meet a cross-eyed person. A young girl who got wet by the waves on a steamboat laid her luck to meeting five cross-eyes earlier in the day. Providence, R.., 1891. I3I. On going out in the morning, to meet a cross-eyed person means bad luck. Texas. 132. Carry the hand of a dead friend and it will bring prosperity. A big toe will keep away disease. The toe of an enemy can be used as a charm for conjuring enemies. Wid dis bony toe, I'11 bring de woe Fo' daylight in de mornin'. Southern negro. I33. It is lucky to meet, and better to touch, a hunchback. Deerfield, Mass. I34. Some brokers think it is good luck to see a hunchback. If they can touch the deformity it will bring gain. Such a touch is supposed also to cure headache. New York newspaper. Omens. 23 I35. It is unlucky, when going deer-hunting, to meet a red-haired man. A " mare-browed man," one whose eyebrows meet and extend continuously across his forehead, is unlucky and is supposed to have the power of casting a spell upon a person. Hence he is always dreaded in the community, and believes as firmly as his neighbors in his power to cast a spell or cause ill luck. Newfoundland. 136. On New Year's Day, if the first person you meet in the morning is a male, you will have good luck for a year; if a female, the reverse. Alabama. I37. On New Year's Day, if the first caller is a woman it is an omen of bad luck. Chestertown, Md., and Texas. 138. It is bad luck to have a woman come to your house on Monday morning. Baltimore, Md. (negro). 139. A woman's crossing a hunter's path on his setting out will' sometimes be sufficient to make him relinquish his expedition for that day. Newfoundland. I40. Whooping-cough may be cured by binding about the neck of the diseased one some hair of a little girl that has never seen her father. Green Harbor, Mass. I41. If a child has the thrush and some one who has never seen, his own father blows in its face (down its throat), the child will be. cured. Salem, Ind., and Fort Worth, Tez. I42. The seventh son of a seventh son, or the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, has some power of healing in the hand. Such an one is supposed to cure, by rubbing, goitre, swellings, and scrofulous diseases. Somewhat general in the United States. 143. The seventh daughter of a seventh daughter amongst gypsies tells fortunes infallibly. Pennsylvania. MAMMALIAN QUADRUPEDS. I44. If a bat comes into the house, some one in the house is going to die. Talladega, Ala. 145. Wish when you see a new-born calf. Newfoundland and Ohio. In other places it it said the calf's head must be toward you. 24 AnimalLore. I46. It is bad luck to have twin calves. Deer Isle, Me. I47. For a cow to bring forth twin calves is unlucky, signifying the " end of property." New Hampshire. I48. If a cow in your possession bring forth twin calves, you'll never be any richer. Ipswich, Mass., and Harmony, Me. I49. A calf licking the outside of a window is an omen of death. Prince Edward Island. I50. If a cow at any time comes up and licks the window pane, it predicts the death of one of the immediate family. Cape Cod and Alabama. I5I. When you hear cows lowing around your door, it is a sure sign of death. Alabama. 152. A cow lowing after sundown is a sign that some one of the family will soon die. Alabama. 153. Cows lowing at midnight foretells death. Alabama. I54. A cow mooing after midnight means death. Virginia and Englewood, N. J. 15 5. If six cows are seen walking together, it is a sign of a funeral. Bay Roberts, N. F 1,56. It is bad luck to kill a cat. New England. 157. If a farmer kill a cat, some of his stock will die. Pennsylvania. 158. A farmer believes that if he should kill a cat he would lose a'horse. Webster City, Iowa. 159. It is bad luck to kill a cat or to touch a dead cat. The cat would "ha'nt " the killer. Arkansas (negro). I6o. Cats of three colors bring luck. Canada, Michigan, and Eastern Kansas. i6i. A three-colored cat prevents fires. Eastern Kansas. 162. A "smutty-nosed" cat brings wealth to its owner. New England. I63. To own a white cat will bring poverty. Maine. i64 A spotted cat coming to a house is a lucky omen. Cape Breton. Omens. 25 I65. A double-pawed cat foretells good luck. (If one come to the house keep her.) Eastern Massachusetts. I66. If you keep a black or a black and white cat, it will bring sickness to the family. Nashua, N. H. 167. If a cat run across your path, you will be disappointed. Concord, Mass. I68. It is bad luck to have a cat cross your path. Chestertown, Md. (negro). I69. If a cat run across one's path, it is better to turn back, else ill luck will follow. Eastern Kansas. 170. If a black cat cross the path of an individual, it is an ill omen. Upper Canada. I71. If, when walking, a black cat cross your path towards the left, and you do not turn immediately and walk backwards, you will have bad luck. Virginia. 172. To be followed by a black cat signifies good luck. New England and Eastern Kansas. I73. A black cat following you at night means bad luck. Eastern Massachusetts. I74. A black cat coming to the house is unlucky. Cape Breton and New Hampshire. I75. It is good luck for a black cat to come to your house. Eastern Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. I76. He who kills a black cat will be punished by having some one of his household die. Eastern Kansas. 177. Throw a dead black cat over the left shoulder and turn around twice to the right for luck. Massachusetts. 178. If a tomcat come into your house and makes friends, it is considered a lucky omen. If a female come, it portends trouble. Fort Worth, Tex. I79. You will break friendship with a person to whom you have given a cat. Eastern New England. I80. If a neighbor's cat come listening around your house, it means news-carrying, and you may know that the neighbors are gossiping about you. Northern Ohio. 26 AMnimal-Lore. I8I. A cat putting her paw over her head means company. Massachusetts. 182. When a cat licks her tail, a visitor will come from the direction in which her tail points. Eastern Massachusetts. I83. A cat scratching the doorpost signifies visitors. Labrador. 184. When a cat washes her face, visitors will come. Eastern Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. I85. A cat sitting before the fire and washing its face foretells good luck to the inmates of the house. Eastern Kansas. I86. After washing her face, the direction in which a cat looks is the direction from which a visitor will come. Cape Breton. 187. If a cat wash her face in front of several persons, the first person she looks at will be the first to get married. Alabama. i88. The first person a cat looks at after washing its face will die sooner than any other bystander. I89. If a cat, while washing its face before the fire, pause in its ablutions and look directly at any one, that person will receive a letter. Kansas. I90. It is a bad sign not to move a cat when the family moves. Stratham, N. H. I9I. If a cat follow one who is leaving a home, some harm will befall the latter. Eastern Kansas. I92. To move into a house where cats or dogs have been left by the former occupants is unlucky. Their owners should have killed the animals. Eastern Kansas. I93. If a family is moving, it is bad luck to move the cat. It is a fact that in Massachusetts and New Brunswick people sometimes do not move the cat. Dorchester, Ont., New Brunswick, Massachusetts, New York, Eastern Kansas, and Fort Worth, Tex. 194. A dog howling three times at night foretells death. Newfoundland. 195. A dog howling at the door or under the window during sickness foretells death. Newfoundland. OmenS. 27 I96. The howling of a dog near a house foretells death in the family. General in the United States. 197. A dog howling at night means misfortune. Eastern Massachusetts. I98. When a dog howls at night it foretells death in the family. Maine. I99. "The cat's of no use; the dog gives warning of death." Before I830. Bruynswick, N. Y. 200. It was believed that the howling of a hound in the night indicated that death would occur in the house toward which his nose pointed when howling. Before I830. Bruynswick, N. Y. 201. When a dog howls it foretells death in the house toward which he faces, or in the direction he faces. Miramichi, N. B. 202. Passamaquoddy Indians think that the fact of a dog barking in the night is a sign of a stranger coming next day. 203. For a dog to lie on his back means that his owner or one of the family will die soon. Alabama. 204. If dogs, while basking in the sun, very leisurely stretch their legs to full length, it predicts death. Alabama. 205. A dog lying on his back and howling is a sure sign of death. Fort Worth, Tex. 206. A dog digging holes with his paw in earth or snow foretells death. Labrador. 207. A dog digging a long hole (a very large, long hole) in the earth signifies a death soon to occur in the neighborhood. New Orleans (negro). 208. A dog burying sticks foretells death. Trinity Bay, N. F. 209. If you meet a dog while crossing a bridge, you will hear of the death of a friend within twenty-four hours. Eastern Kansas. 2I0. Whoever sees a dog rolling in the grass beneath the windows is going to lose a friend or relative by death. Eastern Kansas. 211. If you see a dog roll in the grass, it is a sign that some one is coming. Eastern Kansas. 28 Animal-Lore. 212. It is a schoolboy's saying that "if you see a yellow dog you will see a negro." Eastern Kansas. 213. A strange dog following you home means good luck. Eastern Kansas. 214. It is bad luck to have a stray black dog come to one's house. Northern Ohio. 215. In buying a horse:One white foot, buy him; Two white feet, try him; Three white feet, deny him; Four white feet and a white nose, Strip off his hide and give him to the crows. Eastern Massachusetts. One white foot, try him; Two white feet, buy him; Three white feet, put him in the dray; Four white feet, give him away; Four white feet and a white nose, Take off his hide and give him to the crows. Portland, Me. One white foot, buy him; Two white feet, try him; Three white feet, give him away; Four white feet, you '11 rue the day. Roxbury and Cambridge, Mass. 216. If you watch a span of white horses out of sight, you will die inside of a year. Upper Canada. 217. Wish on the appearance of the first white horse you see in the new year and you '11 get your wish. New England. 218. Say "white horse" seven times every time you see one, for a week, and you will find something. N4ew England. 2I9. Count one hundred white horses, and the counting will bring a present. Massachusetts. 220. For a bridal couple to ride behind white horses bodes bad luck. Michigan. 221. See a "calico" (piebald) pony and wish. Eastern Massachusetts and Louisiana. Omens. 29 222. Wish when you see a piebald horse, without looking at his tail, and keep silent till you see a white horse, and you will get your wish. Eastern Massachusetts. 223. Wish as a cream-colored horse passes, and you will get your wish. Eastern Massachusetts. 224. If you see a red-headed girl, you will soon see a white horse. General in the United States. 225. If a mouse touch you, there will be a death in the family within the year. Green Harbor, N. F. 226. If you see a mouse in bed "with a white heart" (i. e. equivalent to a shroud), or a black mouse in the path, it is a sign of death. Spaniard's Bay, N. F. 227. If you meet a sorrel mule, you will meet a red-headed negro. United States Army, Montana. 228. It is bad luck to meet a pig on a journey. Province of Quebec, Canada. 229. On going visiting and meeting a pig, you will find you are not wanted on arriving. Medway, Me. 230. If you give a pig away, you will give your luck away. Chestertown, Md. 231. Domestic rabbits (not hares) are unlucky to have about the house. Eastern Massachusetts. 232. If a rabbit (hare) is caught in a snare and is brought home alive, there will be a death in the family inside of a year. Central Maine. 233. If a rabbit run across your path on a journey, you will have bad luck on your journey. Stratham, N. H., and Alabama. 234. In starting for a ride or a drive, if a rabbit cross the road in front of you from left to right, it means a safe journey. If from right to left, it means bad luck. Northern Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Ohio. 235. If a rabbit run across the road in front of you, some of your family will surely die soon. Fort Worth, Tex. 236. If a rabbit cross the road in front of you, you must make a cross-mark with your foot and spit in it, or you will have bad luck. Fort Worth, Tex., and Florida. 30 Animal-Lore. 237. If, in mowing grass, one cut the foreleg of a rat during the first day's work, it foretells good luck; if the hindleg, bad luck. Newfoundland. 238. If rats gnaw your clothes, you will soon die. Boston, Mass. 239. Rats leave a sinking ship, or one about to sink. General in the United States. 240. When rats leave a mine there is poisonous gas in the mine, and if not conducted off very soon, it will cause caving in and explosion. Alabama. 241. Rats and mice will leave a house before it burns. Eastern Kansas. 242. If a skunk come around, it is a sign of a new courtship. Ipswich, Mass. 243. It is unlucky to have a squirrel cross the road ahead of you; but it is lucky to have it run on the wall by your side in the direction you are going. Brookline, Mass. 244. When a squirrel runs across your path, you will be disappointed. Concord, Mass. 245. If a squirrel run across the road ahead of you, it is a sign of bad luck. Crown Point, N. Y. 246. If a squirrel run across the road in front of you, good luck will follow. Alabama. 247. If a squirrel cross your road as you start on a journey, if it run to the right, it means a safe journey; if it run from right to left, it betokens ill luck. Eastern Massachusetts, Guilford, Conn., and Ohio. 248. When domestic animals leave a house, it is a sign of death. Maine and Massachusetts. 249. The owner of white animals may consider himself or herself fortunate, as he or she is ever likely to have good luck. Lawrence, Kan. BIRDS. 250. If you see a lone buzzard, you will see some one that you did not expect. Chestertown, Md., and Alabama. 25I. If you see a lone buzzard, make a wish before he flops his wings and it will come to pass. Alabama. Omens. 31 252. Make a wish while a buzzard is flapping his wings, and it will come true. Alabama. 253. If you see a buzzard flying over you, make a wish; if it flop its wings it will come true; if not, your wish will not be granted. Alabama. 254. If a buzzard fly over a house at twelve o'clock, some member of the family will die at four. Alabama. 255. If you see the shadow of a buzzard without seeing the buzzard, an unexpected visitor will arrive. Alabama. 256. On rising in the morning, if you see the shadow of a turkey buzzard and not the buzzard itself, it betokens death. Texas. 257. A cock crowing before the door is a sign of company. Eastern Massachusetts and Ohio. 258. When a rooster crows in the front yard, it is a sign of company coming. Moosup, Conn. 259. A rooster crowing on the doorstep or in the doorway signifies company. Central New York. 260. If a white rooster come and crow on the doorstep, it means a death in the family. Central New York. 261. When a rooster crows on the porch, it means a stranger is coming to the house that day. Talladega, Ala. 262. If a rooster crow with his head toward the house, some one is coming; if with his tail toward the house, some one is going away. Alabama. 263. If a chicken stand in the doorway and crow, if its head is outside, some one is going out, i. e. is going to die; but if the chicken's head is toward the room, some one is coming. Virginia. 264. If a hen lay an egg in a house into which the occupants have recently removed, good fortune will attend their undertakings. Fort Worth, Tex. 265. A rooster crowing at odd times of the night signifies death. Prince Edward Island. 266. A rooster crowing in the early part of the night means hasty news. V Talladega, Ala. 32 AnimalLore. 267. You will hear hasty news if a rooster should crow on his roost at sundown. Alabama. 268. A rooster crowing in the evening after dark signifies death. Cape Breton. 269. The crowing of chickens at midnight foretells death. Alabama. 270. Chickens fighting foretells the coming of a visitor. Alabama. 271. If you see two hens fighting, two ladies will call on you. Kansas and Talladega, Ala. 272. It is a bad sign to kill a sick hen. Cambridge, Mass. 273. A crowing hen foretells death. Newfoundland and La Salle Co., Ill. 274. A hen crowing under the window betokens death or very bad luck. Miramichi, N. B. 275. Hens that crow often lose their heads because of the general saying that it is unlucky to hear a hen crow. Franklin Center, P. Q., and Chestertown, Md. 276. If a hen try to crow like a rooster, it is a sure sign of death in the family. Mexican Ranch Rio Pecos, near Langtry, Tex. 277. A whistling girl and a crowing hen Will always come to some bad end. General in the United States. 278. If a crow fly before you as you are leaving your summer or winter house, it means bad luck. Labrador. 279. A flock of crows about a house is a bad sign. St. John, N. B., and Southern negro. 280. A crow cawing portends misfortune. Eastern New England. 281. Dire calamity will come to the person who hears a crow cawing after dark. Utah Indians. 282. The first crow you see in the new year indicates, by the length of its flight, the distance you will travel that year. If at rest, it means no journey; if it fly out of sight, a long journey is foretold. Mattawamkeag, Me., and Hatfield, Mass. 283. Meeting a lone crow foretells bad luck to the fisherman. New England. Omens. 33 284 Four crows flying together means death. Cape Breton. 285. One crow, sorrow, Two crows, mirth, Three crows, a wedding, Four crows, birth, when seen flying overhead. St. John, N. B., and Maine. 286. If a white crow or a white blackbird fly over one's head, very good luck will attend that person. Kansas. 287. It is a sign of death if a cuckoo sing near a house. Poland, Me. 288. Notice when you hear the first turtle-dove of spring: if you are walking or standing, you will be well; if sitting, you will be sick; if lying down, you will die. Kansas. 289. Wish when you hear the first cry of a turtle-dove (in the spring), and the wish will come true. Kansas. 290. It is a bad sign to have a mourning-dove fly about a house. Ipswich and Salem, Mass. 29I. To have a mourning-dove coo near the house is a sign of death for one of the inmates within the year. Salem, Mass., and Alabama. 292. A white dove coming near the house foretells a marriage. Any other colored dove means a death. Nashua, N. H. 293. To kill an eagle is an omen of bad luck. Maine. 294. An owl hooting is an unlucky omen. General in the United States. 295. The hoot of a screech-owl signifies a death in the family. Alabama. 296. If a screech-owl cry three times near a house where there is sickness, death is sure to ensue. Louisiana. 297. To hear an owl cry at midnight foretells the death of a friend. New York. 298. The hooting of an owl is believed to be a portent of evil among the Moqui Indians. 299. Passamaquoddy Indians believe that partridges hovering about a house foretell death. 34 Anima-Lore. 300. A partridge coming near a house betokens death. Poland, Me. 301. When riding in the spring, if a partridge fly across the road, it is a sign of death in your family. Central Maine. 302. If a partridge fly on the roof of a house, it is a sign of death in the family during the year. Harmony, Me. 303. Peacock feathers for decoration portend disastrous events. Massachusetts and Maryland. 304. A child will never be born in a house where peacock feathers are kept. New Brunswick. 305. Peacock feathers in the house prevent the daughters of the family from marrying. Providence, R. I. 306. If you see a redbird on Saturday, you will be sure to see your sweetheart next day. Alabama. 307. If you see a redbird fly across the road, you have a letter in the post-office. Alabama. 308. If you see the first robin high, you will not be sick that year. To see it high means not on the ground. Baldwinsville, N. Y. 309. The farmers dread to see a robin in March, as it portends some general failure in the crops. Maine. 3o0. To find a single robin's egg in spring betokens good luck. Boston, Mass. 31. Make a wish when you hear the first robin sing in the spring, and you will get your wish. Boston, Mass., and Northern Ohio. 312. If you kill a robin the cows will give bloody milk. Peabody, Mass. 3I3. Killing barn swallows will make the cows give bloody milk. Cape Breton and New England. 314. The building of the mud-daubers, or swallows, on the barn or house is a sign of prosperity to the occupants of the house. The destruction of the nest brings misfortune. Kansas. 3I5. What you are doing when you hear the first whip-poor-will, you will do all the year. Omens. 35 3I6. Whatever you may be doing when you hear the first whippoor-will, you will be doing the same thing one year from that time. Baldwinsville, N. Y. 317. Wherever you happen to be when you first hear a whippoor-will in the spring, there you will spend the year. Guilford, Conn. 318. Wish when you hear the first cry of a whip-poor-will (in the spring), and the wish will come true. Kansas. 319. In the spring when you hear the first whip-poor-will, if you lie down and roll over and while rolling make a wish, it will certainly come to pass. Alabama. 320. If you hear a whip-poor-will before starting on a journey, there is danger ahead of you. Alabama. 321. If you hear a whip-poor-will while travelling, there is danger ahead. Alabama. 322. A whip-poor-will uttering its note very near the house bodes death. New Hampshire, Catskill Mountains, N.:, and Alabama. 323. If a woodpecker fly over the house, the family will move soon. Alabama. 324. A woodpecker lighting and tapping on a house bodes death in the family. Tennessee. 325. If a woodpecker rap on the house where there is sickness, the sick person is sure to die. Fort Worth, Tex. 326. It is good luck to have a wren build near one's house. Lawrence, Kan. 327. If a woodpecker pick holes in wood near the house, it is a sign of death within the year. Green Harbor, N. F. 328. A bird flying into the house is a sure sign of death. Cambridge, Mass., Ohio, and Fort Worth, Tex. 329. If a bird fly in at the window and is unable to escape, it is a sign of a death. Baldwinsville, N. Y. 330. If a bird fly into the house and die, it is a very bad sign, probably of death. Maine. 36 Animal-Lore. 331. A bird coming into the house means good news from afar. Cape Breton. 332. When a bird flies into the house, it is good luck. Alabama. 333. That person will die upon whose head a bird alights. Lawrence, Kan. 334. A bird alighting on the head or flying into the room is a sign of trouble coming. Eastern Massachusetts. 335. If a bird rise in the air immediately over the door and circle round and round, it is surely followed by the death of some of the inmates of the house. Fort Worth, Tex. 336. If a bird fly in at a window at night and make a circle about the lamp, the member of the family nearest the lamp will die within that year. Alabama. 337. If a bird light on the bed of a sick person, he will die. Washington, D. C. 338. A white bird flying into the house signifies a coming death. Northern Ohio. 339. If a white crane (heron?) fly in circles over a home three times, there will soon be a death. Alabama. 340. When a mockingbird flies over the house, some one is going to be married. Alabama. 341. A bird pecking at the window and flapping its wings against the window is an omen of death. General in the United States. 342. If a bird tries to come into your house, it is bad luck. Bedford, Mass. 343. A dark bird at the window indicates good luck. Nova Scotia. 344. A bird flying against or close to one's window, in passing, is a sign of a letter or of news. Hemmingford, P. Q., and St. John, N. B. 345. If you hear a phoebe bird near a house, it is a sign of visitors. Middleborough, Mass. 346. A bird building its nest close to one's door is a good omen. Boston, Mass. 347. If geese (or other animals) walk one after the other, as in a procession, it is a sign of death. Plymouth, Ohio. Omens. 37 348. If you have any stuffed birds, or a picture of any winged creatures, or wings of any kind in the house, it is a sign that luck will fly out of the house. Massachusetts. 349. Birds in the pattern of wall paper, curtains, etc., mean that your "riches will take wings," i. e. you will lose your property. Nashua, N. H. 350. It is bad luck to have birds on wedding presents. General in the United States. REPTILES. 35. Kill the first snake you see in the spring to bring good luck. Cape Breton. 352. If a snake cross one's path, that person has an enemy. Somewhat general in the United States. 353. The next person you see after meeting a snake is an enemy. Maine. 354. It is lucky to have a snake frequent the house. Bruynswick, N. Y (before 1830). 355. Break your first brake, Kill your first snake, And you will conquer all your enemies. Northern Ohio. 356. Kill the first snake you see in the spring, and you will conquer all your enemies that year. If the snake get away, you will be troubled with new enemies that year. Talladega, Ala. 357. If the first snake you see in the spring is dead, you will lose a friend. Lawrence, Kan. 358. To catch a snake on the end of your fishing-line indicates that your enemies are trying to entrap and kill you. Catch a snake, let him go, For death is comin' sho' and sho'! Negro-lore, Newspaper. 359. It is bad luck to have an old turtle-shell in the house. Providence, R. 1. AMPHIBIANS. 360. Whatever you are doing the first time you hear the frogs peep in the spring, you will be doing a year from that time. Andover, Mass. 361. Whatever occupation one is engaged in, when one hears the 38 AnimalLore. frogs peep the first time in the spring, will be a frequently repeated task all through the ensuing season. New Hampshire and Holyoke, Mass. 362. If you kill a frog you will stub your toe. Chestertown, Md. 363. Never kill a frog, or your cows will go dry. Alabama. 364. Killing a toad makes the cows go dry. Tennessee and Talladega, Ala. 365. Killing toads or frogs in the barnyard will make the cows give bloody milk. Dorchester, Ont., and general in the United States. 366. If you step on a toad, your grandmother will die. Eastern Massachusetts. 367. If a toad crosses your path, it denotes disappointment. Eastern New England. 368. If you kill a toad, you'll stub your toe. Hingham, Mass., and Orleans, Cape Cod (children's saying). 369. To find a toad in the water foretells a marriage. Negro-lore, Newspaper. 370. Wish on the first toad you see hopping across your path in the spring. Boston, Mass. 371. Don't kill a lizard (salamander), or you will die within a year. Winn, Me ARACHNIDS. 372. Wish on a daddy-long-legs for good luck. Boston, Mass. 373. A grand-daddy gray-beard (daddy-long-legs) running over clothes means that you will soon have a new garment. Boxford, Mass., and Cazenovia, N. V. 374. To kill a daddy-long-legs bodes bad luck. These animals bring good luck. Mexicans on the Rio Pecos Ranch, Langtry, Tex. 375. Spiders are thought to be unlucky. St. John, N. B. 376. If you wish to live and thrive, Let the spider run alive. Eastern Massachusetts. 377. Kill the first spider you see in the spring, and you will conquer all your enemies. New Hampshire. 378. If a spider is seen on any article of dress, the wearer will get Omens. 39 a new one. The color of the spider indicates the color of the new article. Baddeck, Cape Breton. 379. If a spider runs over the clothes and is not killed on them, the wearer will have a new suit before the year ends. Massachusetts. 380. A spider crawling over a garment means a new garment of the same kind. Cape Breton and Maine. 381. A small brown spider called " the weaver" crawling on any garment means a new one. Bathurst and Miramichi, N. B. 382. At a wedding, if a spider drops on the bride or on anything she is holding, it betokens good luck. Malden, Mass. 383. If you see a spider spinning down from the wall, if it is black, wish on it; if the spider is white, it bodes ill luck. Boston, Mass. 384. A spider dropping down in front of one means a gift. Cazenovia, N. Y. 385. Elsewhere it heralds news or is an omen of good luck. 386. When visitors are expected, go and consult spiders spinning. If the spider continues to spin down, the visitor will come; if it goes up, the visitor has been prevented from coming. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 387. If a spider spins down to the right of you, it is an omen of good luck; if to the left of you, bad luck. Ohio. 388. If you see a spider spinning down and wish, if the spider goes up, you will get your wish; if it goes down, you will not get your wish. Ohio. 389. A white spider spinning down means good news. A black spider spinning down means bad news. Massachusetts. 390. If you see a black spider you will have bad news; brown, good news; white, good luck; or Black, sad, Brown, glad, White, good Vuck attend you. Guilford, Conn. 391. Meeting a white spider signifies finding money; but if you kill the spider you won't get the money. Deerfield, Mass. 40 Animal-Lore. 392. It was a common belief among those of Dutch descent that one who saw a white spider would surely die before nightfall. Bruynswick, N 1Y (about i825). 393. If a spider's web is broken by one's face in walking, the fact signifies news. 394. The bite of the "calico spider," a large yellow and black species, is supposed to be deadly poison. Eastern Massachusetts. 395. The bite of any spider is popularly supposed to be poisonous. Somewhat general throughout the United States. INSECTS. 396. It is unlucky to have a swarm of bees come to you. 397. A bee flying into the house means that a stranger is coming. Cape Breton. 398. It is lucky to have a bumblebee fly into the house and out again, but unlucky to have it die in the house. Newfoundland. 399. A bumblebee flying into the house is a sign of company. St. John, N. B., and Michigan. 400. If a bumblebee flies into the house, he brings good news in the morning, bad news in the afternoon. Ipswich, Mass. 40i. A bumblebee flying into the house is a sign of speedy news from over the sea. Beverly, Mass. 402. If a bumblebee fly high as he enters a house, it means good news from over the sea; if he fly low, the news will be bad. Mount Desert, Me. 403. If a beetle, commonly called the "'news-bug," fly through the house, the occupants of the house are going to hear news. Eastern Kansas. 404. Wish on the first butterfly you see in the spring, and you will get your wish. 405. A butterfly emitting a blood-like fluid is a sign of war. Chelsea, Mass. 406. The first butterfly you see in the spring shows you the color of a dress you will have during the year. Upper Canada, Ho/yoke, Mass., and Gui/ford, Conn. Omens. 41 407. The color of the first butterfly you see in the spring foretells the color of the first new dress you will have. Northern Ohio. 408. Bite a butterfly's head off and throw it over your left shoulder, and some one will give you a dress the color of the butterfly. Alabama. 409. If a butterfly fly into the house, some one will come during the day. Alabama. 4Io. If a butterfly comes in the dining-room, a stranger will dine in it soon. Alabama. 411. A white butterfly coming into the house foretells a death. Chestertown, Md. 412. A white "miller" coming into the house is a sign of bad news. New England. 413. Bite off the head of the first moth you see in the new year, and you will get married that year. Talladega, Ala. 414. Bite off the head of a moth at any time, and you will have a dress of that color. Talladega, Ala. 4I5. The seventeen-year locust (cicada) has a "W" on its wing, and foretells war. Eastern Massachusetts and Ohio. 416. It is unlucky to kill a cricket. General in the United States. 417. If you kill a cricket you will tear your drawers. Chestertown, Md. 418. If a cricket is caught in a deep crevice in the rock, or between boards, the bystander who does not release him will suffer from bad luck. Maine. 4I9. The chirping of a cricket foretells sorrow. Maine. 420. If you kill a cricket other crickets will come and bite holes in your clothes. New England. 421. To hear a wood-tick or death-watch is a sign of death. General in the United States. 422. If you kill a lightning-bug, the lightning will kill you during the next thunderstorm. Dorchester, Ont. 42 Animal-Lore. 423. When you see a firefly ahead of your horse's nose at night, the mackerel will be thick next day. Boothbay, Me. 424. If a lightning-bug comes into the house you will have a strange visitor. Alabama. 425. "A buzzing fly preceding any one betokens ill luck. Russell Sage never trades with a broker who comes into his presence thus heralded." A New York newspaper 426. A bluebottle coming into the house heralds news. Boston, Mass. 427. To see a yellow fly foretells good news. Alabama. 428. When a katydid chirps in the house, it is a sure omen of death. New London, Conn. 429. If a lady-bug lights on your hand, it means new gloves; if on your dress, a new dress; if on your shoes, new shoes, etc. Upper Canada and Boston, Mass. 430. When a "measuring worm" travels over you, it indicates that you are getting measured for a new dress; others say for a shroud. Northern Ohio and Bucks Co., Pa. 431. If a "measuring worm" gets on your dress, you will be sure to have a new dress of that color. Alabama. 432. If a white span-worm is at any time found on the body, it is "a sho' sign," as the negroes say, of approaching death. If, on the other hand, it is a green one, it is measuring your bridal robe, and foretells both long life and happiness. Alabama. CRUSTACEANS. 433. It is dangerous to kill the common sow-bug (Oniscus), as the creature can give the hydrophobia to the one who kills it. Hence sow-bugs are called mad dogs. Louisville, Ky. CHAPTER III. WEATHER SIGNS. PREPARATIONS OF ANIMALS FOR COMING CHANGES OF WEATHER. 434. If ants stop working and close the entrances to their hills, it indicates rain. Michigan. 435. New earth about ant-hills indicates rain. Biddeford, Me. 436. If bears go into their dens early in the season, it signifies a long, cold winter. Maine (Passamaquoddy Indians). 437. If a beaver is seen carrying a stick, it indicates an approaching storm. Maine (Passamaquoddy Indians). 438. Bees lay up an unusually large store of honey before a severe winter. Biddeford, Me. 439. Cod "take in ballast;" that is, swallow pebbles before a storm. Labrador and Carbonear, N. F. 440. If the crayfish plugs up his hole, it will rain within twentyfour hours. General in the United States. 441. Domestic fowls oiling their feathers foretell rain. General in the United States. 442. If the chickens (fowls) stay out on a rainy morning, the rain will continue all day; but if they eat only a short time and then seek shelter, it will soon clear up. Lawrence, Kan. 443. Goats seek shelter before bad weather. Trinity Bay, N. F. 444. If hornets build their nests low in summer, the following winter will be cold. Illinois. 445. Both Indians and whites say that the muskrats build higher houses than usual if the winter is to be a severe one. General in the United States. 44 Animal.Lore. 446. Spruce partridges (Canada grouse) feed heavily before bad weather. Labrador. 447. The fact of pigs carrying hay or straw in their mouths signifies rain or wind. Newfoundland, and somewhat general in the United States. 448. Rats leave a ship before a storm or a shipwreck. Newfoundland. 449. Rats keep to what will be the leeward side of a protecting object on the eve of a storm, and move shavings away from the windward side of a house before a storm. Labrador. 450. When squirrels lay up an extra supply of nuts, it indicates an unusually severe winter coming. New Brunswick and Maryland. 451. If a toad digs a hole and crawls into it, it is sure to bring rain. Newton, Mass., and Rio Pecos near Langtry Tex. (Mexican cattleherders). 452. Whales "sounding" foretell a storm. Labrador. THE CRIES OR CALLS OF ANIMALS. 453. Bulbirds (little auk) chatter before a rain. Newfoundland. 454. A cat " bawling" is a sign of rain. St. John's, N. F. 455. A cock crowing foretells a storm. Woburn, Mass. 456. If a cock crows on the fence, it is a sign of fair weather; if on the ground, a sign of rain. General in the United States. 457. When a rooster crows on a fence, it is a sign of a storm. Moosup, Conn. 458. A cock crowing on the fence during a storm shows that it will soon clear off. Massachusetts. 459. A cock coming to the door and crowing during a rain foretells clear weather. Maine. 460. A cock crowing early in the morning foretells good weather. Massachusetts. 461. Cocks crowing during the night signify rain. Newfoundland. Weather Signs. 45 462. Cocks crow more than usual before a northeast wind. Newfoundland. 463. The rooster who crows when he goes to bed Will get up with a wet head. Lawrence, Kan. 464. If a rooster looks continually at the sky, rain is soon coming. Lawrence, Kan. 465. If the cuckoo's cry is heard in the morning, it will rain the next day. Hamilton Co., Ohio. 466. Ducks "bawling" is a sign of mild weather. Trinity Bay, N. F. 467. Ducks quacking in the night signify rain. Chestertown, Md. 468. Tree frogs " singing" is a sign of wet weather. General in the United States. 469. The shrill notes of the peat frogs in early spring mean that they will "see through glass houses;" that is, that the water is again to freeze. Pennsylvania. After the frogs first sing there will be three freezes before spring weather fairly sets in. Cazenovia, N. Y. 470. Geese cackling foretell rain. Chestertown, Md. 471. If goats go from home during rain, it will soon clear; if they come home "bawling" while the weather is fine, it will rain. Carbonear, Trinity Bay, and Bay Roberts, NV. F. 472. The calling of Guinea fowls or pea fowls forebodes rain. General in the United States. 473. When sea-birds, especially gulls, are unusually noisy, it foretells a calm. Carbonear, N. F 474. When sea gulls "bawl" in the spring, the back of the winter is broken. Newfoundland. 475. When the gulls "bawl" the heart of the frost is broken. Labrador and Bay Roberts, N. F. 476. The calling of the bluejay is said to foretell rain. Cape Breton. 477. The cicada (commonly called locust) shrilling signifies rain. Central Vermont. 478. The locust sings when, it is to be hot and clear. General in New England. 479. Loons "bawling" foretell rain. Trinity Bay, N. F. 46 Animal-Lore. 480. Loons are said to "call for rain." Adirondack Mountains, N. Y. 481. The calling of loons is an indication of coming rain. Cape Breton and Newfoundland. 482. When loons cry, it is a sign of a severe windstorm coming. Maine (Passamaquoddy Indians). 483. Mice noisy in the house are a sign of a northeast wind. Trinity Bay, N. F. 484. Rats and mice "bawling" foretell wind. Newfoundland. 485. It is said that the mud-hen cries before a rain. Southern Kansas. 486. A horned owl "bawling " foretells bad weather. Trinity Bay, N. F. 487. Pigs "bawl" or "act crazy" before a wind. Bay Roberts, N. F. 488. Hogs (pigs) squeal more than usual the night before a cold spell. Southwestern Missouri. 489. Pigs squeal in winter before a blizzard. Lawrence, Kan. 490. The quail (Bob-white) is said to "call for rain." Michigan. 491. Quails are said in the Central States to say " More wet, more wet." 492. If you hear robins during the day, they are said to be " singing for rain." Maine and Massachusetts. 493. A robin piping and hopping in the spring foretells rain. Boston, Mass. 494. The hooting of the owl is said to foretell rain. Cape Breton and Vermont. 495. Among the Kootenay Indians it is said that the tomtit says: "tlomanjet! tlomanjet!" or spring! spring! and the robin says: " kwanuk tetltlamtciya!" or by and by plenty of rain! 496. Sheep " bawling " is a sign of rain. Newfoundland. 497. If a whip-poor-will is heard about twilight, it is going to be warm weather. Alabama. 498. If you hear the notes of a whip-poor-will, it signifies rain. Miramichi, N. B. Weather Signs. 47 499. If woodpeckers utter their harsh cry, there will be a shower soon. Alabama. 500. Supposed worms in wood "bawling," as the wood burns, signify that snow is coming. Bay Roberts and Green Harbor, N. F. OTHER ACTS OF ANIMALS. 501. Birds on a telegraph wire indicate the coming of rain. Maine. 502. The redheaded buzzard flies high before stormy weather. Oh, Mr. Buzzard, don't yo' fly so high, Yo' can't get yo' livin' a flyin' in de sky. Maryland (negro). 503. Lightning-bugs flying high is a sign of rain. Alabama. 504. A cat or a dog eating grass foretells rain. Biddeford, Me., Michigan, and Newton, Mass. (cat). 505. When the pupils of a cat's eyes are nearly closed, it shows that it is low tide, while the widely opened condition signifies high water. In a case in which the pupils of a cat in a Boston barbershop were nearly closed at high water, the barber who owned the cat explained the discrepancy by saying: "Oh, well, she's only a kitten anyhow and couldn't be expected to know the tide like an old cat." 506. The time of day may be told by noticing the relative size of a cat's pupil. Brookline, Mass. 507. If the fur of a cat shine and look glossy, it is a sign that it will be pleasant on the following day. Cambridge, Mass. 508. A black cat, kept under a pot will detain a vessel by causing adverse winds. Harbor Grace, N. F. 509. When a cat washes her face, clear weather is signified. New York and Pennsylvania. 510. A cat washing her head over the left ear signifies rain. Labrador. 5 1. A cat, in washing, faces the quarter that the wind is coming from. Trinity Bay, N. F. 512. When the cat washes her face, the wind will blow toward the direction which she faces. Eastern Massachusetts. 48 Animal-Lore. 513. A cat washing her face before the fire foretells a windstorm. Eastern Kansas. 5I4. A cat washing her face is a sign of rain. Alabama. 5 I5. A cat washing her face before breakfast foretells rain. New England. 5P6. A cat washing her face in the parlor foretells rain. New England. 517. The cat putting her paw behind her ear is a sign of rain. Portland, Me. 5P8. The direction from which a cat's paw moves in washing indicates the direction from which an approaching storm will come. Salem, Mass. 5i9. When a cat, in washing her face, puts her paw up over her ears, it is a sign that the wind, when it changes, will blow from the direction is which she faces. Massachusetts. 520. If you see a cat looking out of a window, it will storm soon. Central Maine. 52I. When a cat is clawing a post, if it is a female, the wind will come in her face; if a male, in his back. Labrador, and common in lewfoundland. 522. A cat playing and frisking about foretells a change of weather. Eastern Kansas. 523. If the cat suddenly gallops through the house, it foretells a gale. Cape Breton and Mount Desert, Me. 524. An old cat frisking about the, house at night like a kitten foretells a storm. Bay Roberts and New Harbor, N. F., and lVew York. 525. If a cat scratches the fence, it is a sign of rain before night. Western Maine. 526. When a cat is sharpening her claws, the way her tail points shows which way the wind will blow next day. Central Maine. 527. The cat turning her back to the stove is a sign the weather is going to be cold. Massachusetts. 528. When the cat sits with her back to the fire, it is going to rain. St. John, N. B. 529. When the cat sits with her back to the fire, it is a sign of frost. Carbonear and New Harbor, N. F. Weather Signs. 49 530. The cat lying on her back signifies rain. Bay Roberts, N. F. 53I. If the cat lie with the back of her head turned downward, it is a sign of a storm. New York. 532. Cats frolicking show that the wind is going to blow. Peabody, Mass. 533. When the nose of a cat is held up in the air, it is a sign of rain. Newfoundland. 534. If a cat sleep with the back of her head on the floor, rain is coming. Eastern Kansas. 535. When cattle drink salt water, it foretells a rain. New Harbor, N. F. 536. When cows, on being driven to pasture, hang about the bars, it shows that a storm is coming. Portland, Me. Rain is coming. Stratham, N. H. 537. When the cows, on going out to pasture in the morning, lie down immediately, it is a sign of rain. Massachusetts. 538. Cattle feeding on the top of a hill foretell rain. Peabody, Mass. 539. Cows eating quickly foretell rain; lying down, foretell fine weather. St. John's, N. F. 540. If the cows come home before sundown, it is a sure sign of rain. Alabama. 541. If an ox lick its forefoot under the "dewclaw," it will storm. Massachusetts. 542. Notice the way the crows fly to-day; to-morrow the wind will blow from the direction toward which they are (now) flying. 543. If during a rainstorm a crow fly past without cawing, it is a sign that the rain will soon be over. Eastern New England. 544. It is a sign of rain when the crows fly low. Brookline, Mass. 545. Crows assembling in large numbers on trees foretell a decided change of weather. General in the Northeastern States. 50 AnimalLore. 546. When crows fly high, it will be fair weather; when low, bad weather. Their fighting and tumbling over each other indicates stormy weather. Southwestern Missouri. 547. Dogs about in woods in winter foretell mild weather. Carbonear, N. F. 548. A dog eating grass foretells rain or bad weather. New Harbor, N. F. 549. Dogs carrying scraps about indicate dirty weather. Bay Roberts, N. F. 550. Dogs racing or running about signify wind. Newfoundland. 55I. Ducks fluttering around portend rain. Newfoundland. 552. If swimming ducks dip their heads under water and raise them very quickly, they are said to be "pleading for rain." Alabama. 553. When fish hook well, and when they haul up heavy, it is a sign of wind. Green Harbor, N. F. 554. When caplin eat sand, it is a sign of wind. Green Harbor, N. F. 555. Fish of all kinds active and breaking foretell wind and rain. Placentia Bay, N. F. 556. Large houseflies about the house foretell a northeast wind. Newfoundland. 557. Flies flying about the house in winter indicate a storm. Newfoundland. 558. Flies crawling over the floor indicate rain. Poland, Me. 559. Flies bite more sharply before rain. General in the United States. 560. Tame geese always fly toward the quarter from which the wind will blow next. Nova Scotia. 56I. Geese flying low and squawking signify rain. St. John, N. B. 562. Tame geese flying foretell rain. Michigan; somewhat general in the United States. 563. If on Candlemas Day the ground-hog (or bear) comes out of his burrow (or den) and sees his shadow on the ground, he will go back and stay six weeks. Cazenovia, N. Y.; general in the United States in regard to the ground-hog. Weather Signs. 51 564 "Ticklaces" (kittiwake gulls) returning to land and going up arms of the sea foretell a storm. Carbonear, N. F. The reverse is true for Labrador. 565. Gulls flying high indicate that a heavy wind is coming. Newfoundland. 566. When a shower comes, the hens will run under shelter if it is going to be of short duration; but if there is going to be a long storm, they will remain out. Prince Edward Island and Massachusetts. 567. When a windstorm is approaching, the hens run about, as if in fright. ' New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 568. Hens rolling on the ground signify rain. Carbonear, N. F: 569. Hens picking themselves foretell rain. Trinity Bay, N. F. 570. Horses race before a wind. Green Harbor, N. F. 571. Horses go to windward before a storm. New Harbor, N. F. 572. Horses go to New Harbor Point before a northeast wind. New Harbor, N F. 573. Horses go to "The Corner" at Dildo before a northeast wind. Dildo, Trinity Bay, N. F. 574. Horses congregating about headlands foretell a northeast wind and rain in summer, snow in winter. Norman's Cove, N. F. 575. If a horse runs round and round in a lot, it is a sign of cold weather. Lawrence, Kan. 576. A horse turning his lips back and grinning foretells rain. Chestertown, Md. 577. Loons flying out to sea signify fine weather; the reverse, bad weather. Common in Newfoundland. 578. Mosquitoes and sandflies bite hard before a northeast wind. Labrador. 579. Mosquitoes bite hard before a rain. Newfoundland. 580. " White partridges " (willow-grouse) sitting high in trees indicate a coming snowstorm. Labrador. 52 Animal-Lore. 58I. Lumbermen prepare for a heavy snowstorm when they hear partridges drum. Central Maine. 582. A pigeon on the ridge of a roof indicates rain (?). Salem, Mass. 583. It is believed that pigs carrying straws in their mouths foretell rain. Canada (Mohawk Indians). 584 Pigs rubbing their backs against the fence or other convenient object foretell lowery weather. Central Maine. 585. A school of porpoises following a ship is a sign of a storm. Baltimore (negro sailor). 586. Rabbits running much show that a snow-fall is coming. Newfoundland. 587. Expect a heavy fall of snow when seals whelp (about March Ist); the snow "makes a bed" for the little seals. New Harbor, N. F. 588. To see snakes crawling is a sign of rain. Alabama. 589. Snipe drumming means rain. Newfoundland. 590. Sparrows perching or flying together in clusters foretell rain. Boston, Mass. 591. Swallows sitting in the road indicate rain inside of twentyfour hours. Albany, N. H. 592. If the swallows fly low, it is a sign of rain. Maine and Massachusetts. 593. Bad weather is indicated when chimney-swifts dip in water or swallows fly low or in flocks; good weather when swallows fly high. Caxenovia, N. Y. 594. When swallows fly high, the weather will be clear. Biddeford, Me. 595. Toads come out before a rain. Lawrence, Kan. 596. If a toad is put into a jar of water in which there is a ladder, the toad will sit on the top of the ladder if the weather is to be fair, but on the bottom if foul weather is coming. Lawrence, Kan. 597. Turkeys perch on top of a straw-stack or on the barn or house roof on the approach of colder weather. Ohio. Weather Signs. 53 598. A woodpecker tapping hard foretells rain. Carbonear, N. F. MISCELLANEOUS WEATHER OMENS DERIVED FROM ANIMALS. 599. If there are many ants in summer, there will be a cold winter. Alabama. 600. A cat drowning in salt water will bring on rain. Scilly Cove, N. F. 60o. Drowning any animal is a sign of wind. Scilly Cove, N. F. 602. Putting a coal black cat under a bushel measure when it is raining will make the rain stop. Chestertown, Md. 603. When the eyes of codfish are bloated, it means a wind is coming. Scilly Cove, N. F. 604. When round bones of codfish are seen floating, it means wind. Battle Harbor, Lab. 605. A corn paining one signifies rain. New Harbor, N. F. 606. The nose of a dreaming dog points to the direction from which the wind is coming. Newfoundland and Labrador. 607. When frogs come, spring has certainly come. New Hampshire. 608. To see a frog or to step on one is a sign of rain. Massachusetts. 609. Kill a frog and it will rain before morning. Maine. 6io. If the glow-worms are seen shining at night, there will be wet weather soon. Alabama. 6 I. The breast-bone of a goose, if examined during autumn or early winter, will show what kind of a season it is going to be. If the bone is white, the winter will be snowy; if dark, the winter will be mild. New England, Central States, and Southwestern Missouri. 612. In killing hogs, many people in Vermont look carefully at the intestines. The whole intestine represents the winter. If the middle portion be thickly covered with fat, the middle of the winter 54 A nimalLore. will be severe. The same is true of other parts: little fat indicates warm weather, and much fat cold weather. New England. 613. A pig's milt foretells the weather: the broad and thick places indicate storms, the slender places fine weather for the winter. There will be as many storms as there are thick places. Cape Breton, New Brunswick, and Oxford County, Me. 6I4. Whichever end of the spleen or milt of a hog is the larger, that end of the winter will be colder and harder. Lawrence, Kan. 6 5. A heavy coat of hair on a horse in the fall denotes that the coming winter will be severe. Peabody, Mass. 616. Rheumatic joints paining indicate bad weather coming. Carbonear and Scilly Cove, N. F. 617. It is just six weeks from the first day on which the katydid sings to the first frost. Deerfield, Mass., and Illinois. 618. If a louse is placed on the mainmast of a ship, it will bring wind. Chance Cove, N. F 6I9. When the feathers on the legs of partridges grow far down on the legs in the fall, expect a severe winter. St. John, N. B., and Maine (Passamaquoddy Indians). 620. Rabbit fur or squirrel fur unusually thick foretells a severe winter. Biddeford, Me. 621. Robins coming while snow is on the ground foretell an early spring. Massachusetts. 622. A heavy fleece on sheep is a sign of a cold winter coming. Miramichi, N. B. 623. To see or scent a skunk (in winter) is a sign of a thaw. New Hampshire. 624. To kill a snake and hang it on a tree will bring rain. Chestertown, Md., Alabama, and Tennessee. 625. Hanging a snake on a tree or fence with the back down will bring rain; with the back up, it will prevent rain. Pike Co., III., and Southern States. 626. Killing a spider will bring rain. Heart's Content, N. F. 627. If you kill a spider, it will rain next day. St. John, N. B., and Massachusetts. 628. Many cobwebs on the grass in the morning foretell clear weather. General in the United States. Weather Signs. 55 629. A spider's web on the oars of a fishing-boat on pulling off indicates a wind from the north. Labrador. 630. Do not go barefooted until you have seen three swallows. Lawrence, Mass. 631. Kill a toad, and it will rain to-morrow. Cape Breton; general in the United States. 632. A turtle biting one will not let go until it thunders. Cape Cod, also Omaha Indians. 633. A "whale's egg" (sea urchin?) covered with pebbles, "taking in ballast," is a sign of a breeze. Heart's Delight, N. F. 634 If worm-casts are seen on top of the ground, it is a sign of rain. Mason, N. H. CHAPTER IV. INCANTATIONS AND FORMULAE. 635. Say "mumbly-up" repeatedly over an ant-hill until the ants come up at the summons. Repeat "mumbly-down," and the ants go down. Bucks Co., Pa. 636. Children call over the funnel-shaped entrance to an antlion's den: Jack, Jack, come up the world, Bread and butter, bread and butter, Jack, Jack, come up the world, Bread and butter, bread and butter, etc. Guernsey Co., Ohio. 637. Mooly-up, mooly-up, mooly-up, etc. Mansfield, Ohio. 638. Dooley-bug, dooley-bug, come out of your hole. Indiana. 639. Doodle, doodle, doodle, repeated over and over. Southern Indiana, Tennessee, and California. 640. Doodle, doodle, house on fire, Mary's sick and about to die. Southern States. 641. Children will stick straws down "doodle-holes," calling:Doodle-bug, doodle-bug, run away home, Your house is on fire, your children will burn. Louisiana. 642. Boys try to catch a bat by throwing up the hat and calling: - Bat, bat, come down my hat, And when I brew and when I bake, I '11 give you a piece of bat-cake. Massachusetts. 643. Bat, bat, if you '11 fly in my hat, I '11 give you a piece of bacon. Pennsylvania. 644. Leather-winged bat, Fly into my hat. Chestertown, Md. Incantations and Formula. 57 645. A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay. A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon. A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a fly. Franklin, P. Q., and Westport, Mass. 646. The red-headed buzzard flies high before stormy weather. The negroes at sight of one call:Oh, Mr. Buzzard, don't yo' fly so high, Yo' can't get yo' livin' a flyin' in de sky. Maryland. 647. "Tempy, where's Joe," "Gone down the tater-row." Thought to be what one rooster says to another when crowing. Chestertown, Md. 648. Buzzard-dialogue. An old buzzard sitting in a tree and a lot of little ones in a row on a fence. Old B. "Timpeyiyo." Little B. "Ya, ya." Old B. "Come to supper." Little B. "Ya, ya." Chestertown, Md. (negro). 649. One crow, sorrow, Two crows, mirth, Three crows, a wedding, Four crows, birth. St. John, N. B., and Maine. 650. Corn-planting rhymes:One for the cut-worm, One for the crow, One for the blackbird, And three to grow. Mansfield, Ohio. 651. Up comes Jack with a little cup-cake. Do take some for my true love's sake. Then the blackbird said to the crow: — " What makes the white folks hate us so?" "'Cause pulling up corn has been our trade Ever since Eve and Adam was made." Hampton, Va. 652. "More wet, more wet," the robin is said to say before rain. Somewhat general in the United States. 58 Animal-Lore. 653. The tomtit is said to say:Tlomanjet! T16lmanjt! or Spring! Spring! 654. The robin says: - Okwanuik tetltlamtcmya! or By and by plenty of rain! Kootenay Indians. 655. Children catch a butterfly and hold it in the hand, saying: Butterfly, butterfly, give me some butter, And I '11 let you go away! North Cambridge, Mass. 656. Boys often say while fishing: - Fishy, fishy, Come bite my hook, I'11 go captain And you '11 go cook(-ed in the pan). Maine. 657. Children say to the daddy-long-legs, "Daddy, daddy-longlegs, tell me which way you are going or I'11 pull your legs off." The daddy stops, and when the sentence is completed he points in the direction in which he is supposed to be going. 658. Also this:Grandfather gray, Tell me right away Where the cows are Or I '11 kill you. Baldwinsville, N. Y. 659. Grandfather graybeard, Tell me where my cows are or I '11 kill you. Western New York, seventy years ago. 660. Children catch and hold a daddy-long-legs by one leg, saying: Gran'daddy, gran'daddy-long-legs, Tell me where my cows are or I '11 kill you. The creature is said to point out with another leg the direction in which the cows are. Northern Ohio. 66I. Grandaddy do, Tell me where my cows are, Or I '11 kill you! Dorchester, Ont. Incantations and Formula. 59 662. Grand-daddy-long-legs, Where's yo' cow? Baltimore, Md. 663. Daddy-long-legs, Which way are my cows? Tennessee. 664. Daddy, daddy-long-legs, Tell me where my true love is, And then I '11 let you go. New York. 665. Take a grand-daddy-long-legs by one leg and say to him: — Grand-daddy-long-legs, Can you say your prayers? Then say to your companion: - Grand-daddy-long-legs Can't say his prayers, I '11 take him by the hind leg And throw him down stairs. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 666. Grasshopper, grasshopper, Give me some money or I '11 kill you! Cape Breton. 667. Grasshopper, grasshopper, grasshopper gray, Give me some molasses to-day I pray, Or I '11 kill you to-day And bury you to-morrow. Auburn, Me. 668. Grasshopper, grasshopper gray, Give me some molasses And then fly away. 669. Grasshopper, grasshopper green, Give me some molasses Or you '11 never be seen. 670. Spit, spit tobacco juice, Spit, spit tobacco juice. 671. Lady-bug, lady-bug, Fly away home; Your house is on fire, Your children will burn. General in th. Central Maine. Salem, Mass. Northern Ohio. e United States. 60 Animal.Lore. 672. Lady-bug, lady-bug, fly away home, Your house is on fire and your children all gone; All but one, and her name is Ann, And she crept under the pudding pan. Baldwinsville, N. Y. 673. When a child sheds a tooth, it puts it in a mouse's hole and says: "Give me a gold tooth and I '11 give you a bone one." Cape Breton. 674. Snail, snail, put out your horns, Or I '11 kill your father and mother and all. Baddeck, Cape Breton. 675. Snail, snail, come out of your hole, Or else I '11 beat you black as a coal. General in the United States. 676. Break your first brake, Kill your first snake, And you'll conquer all your enemies. New York and Central Ohio. 677. Pick the first brake, Kill the first snake, And you will accomplish What you undertake. Vermont, I860. 678. Catch a snake, let him go, For death is comin' sho' and sho'. Southern negro. 679. If you wish to live and thrive, Let the spider run alive. Eastern Massachusetts. 680. On seeing a spider: - Black, sad, Brown, glad, White, good luck attend you. Guilford, Conn. CHAPTER V. FOLK-NAMES OF ANIMALS. 68I. Leather-winged bat, for any of the family Vespertilionida. Chestertown, Md. 682. Bullock, "animal," for bull. New England. 683. Fiste, for any small mongrel dog. Central and Western States. 684. Calico horse or calico pony, for piebald animals. Central States. 685. Wood-pussy, skunk, Mephitica mephitica. Craigville, Mass. 686. Essence-peddler, skunk. New Hampshire. 687. Butter-bump, bittern, Botaurus (lentiginosus?). Concord, Mass. 688. Up-the-county-boys, negro name for buzzards (Buteo). Chestertown, Md. 689. Rain crow, cuckoo, Coccygus americanus. Indiana. 690. Keets, young Guinea fowls. Chestertown, Md. 691. Fly-up-the-creek, heron, family Ardeidac. South and West. 692. English robin, for Baltimore oriole, Icterus galbula. Bernardston, Mass. 693. Nixie, young chipping sparrow (or other sparrow), Spizella socialis. New England. 694. Groun'y, sparrow. General in the United States. 695. Guinea woodpecker, family Picidce. Northern Ohio. 696. Green-heads, large frogs, Rana clamata. 697. Marsh frogs, smaller frogs, Chorophilus triseriatus. Pike Co., Ill. 62 Animal-Lore. 698. Hop-toad, and hop-toady, Bufo lentiginosus. Somewhat general. 699. Ground-dog or ground-puppy or puppy, salamander, Necturus maculatus. Chestertown, Md. 700. Mud-puppy, salamander. Lawrence, Kan. 701. Skyarpin (for scorpion), a common lizard, Sceloporus. Southern. 702. Thunder-snake. Probably milk-snake, Ophibolus triangulus. A snake marked similarly to a rattlesnake, which crawls in cellar walls for mice, etc., and is supposed to foretell thunderstorms. Indiana. 703. Chaugset (Indian), for the cunner, Tautogolabrus adspersus. Buzzard's Bay. 704. Ramper eel, lamprey, Petromyzon marinus. Bathurst, N. B. 705. Calico spider for large mottled species of the family Epeiridce. Massachusetts. 706. "Weaver," for a small brown spider. Miramichi, N. B. ANTS. 707. Anty-mire, ants, superfamily Formicina. Central Maine and Ohio. 708. Ant-eaters, doodle-bugs, ant-lions, Myrmeleon. Southern California. ANT-LION. 709. Jack-come-up-the-world, ant-lion. Eastern Ohio. 710. Doodle-bug or doodle, ant-lion. Indiana and Southern States. 7I. Dooly-bug or dooly, ant-lion. Indiana and Southern States. 712. Mooly-up, ant-lion. Mansfield, Ohio. 713. Mumbly-up and Mumbly-down, ant-lion. Bucks Co., Pa. Folk-Names of Animals. 63 BEES AND OTHER INSECTS. 714. Sweat-bee, a small yellow bee (?). Pike Co., Ill., Kansas, and Ohio. 7I5. Mud-dauber, a black and yellow striped wasp, genus Pelopaus.. Pike Co., IlI. 7I6. Horn-bugs, May-bees, May-flies, June-bugs, Lachnosterna. Bernardston, Mass. 7I7. Stink-bug, squash-bug, Coreus or Anasa tristis, and similar hemipterous insects. Central States. 718. Tumblebug, tumbledung, Copris. 7 I9. Jigger, chigger, Sarcopsylla penetrans. Illinois and Missouri. 720. Snake-feeder, dragon-fly, family Libellulida. Ohio and Indiana. 721. Snake-doctor, dragon-fly. Southern. 722. Dickinson's horse or Dickinson's mare, dragon-fly. Dubuque Co., Iowa. 723. Mosquito-hawk, dragon-fly. South. 724. Humming-bird moth, any large sphinx moth, family Sphingidce. General in the United States. 725. Devil's riding horse, praying prophet, praying mantis, Phasmomantis carolina. Fort Worth, Tex. 726. Mule-killer, devil's war-horse, praying mantis. Kansas. 727. Cow-killer, cow-killer-ant, Mutilla, Clerus, or Trichodes. South. 728. Loper, larvae of geometrid moths. Kansas. 729. Inch-worm, larvae of geometrid moths. Cambridge, Mass. 730. Measuring-worm, larvae of geometrid moths. General in the United States. 64 731. 732. 733. 734. Animal-Lore. CRUSTACEANS. Pill-bug, genus Asellus. Church-mice, sow-bugs, genus Oniscus. Mad dogs, sow-bugs. Slaters, sow-bugs. Chestertown, Md. Louisville, Ky. Palo Alto, Cal. CCELENTERA. 735. Squid-squalls or water-squalls, jelly-fish, Medusa. Trinity Bay, Scilly Cove, N1 F. CHAPTER VI. FOLK-LORE OF ECTODERMAL STRUCTURES. 736. To cure headache. The next time the sufferer's hair is cut, bury the cuttings in the middle of a spring that rises on the north side of a hill. Wilmington, Vt. 737. You must not cut your hair in March, or you will have headache the rest of the year. 738. You must not throw away hair combings, or birds will take them for their nests, and you will have headache. General in Canada and the United States. 739. You must not throw away hair combings, or birds may get them, and then your hair will fall out. Baltimore, Md. (negro). 740. Don't throw away hair combings, or a bird may get the hair and carry it to its nest, and then you will go crazy. Chestertown, Md. 74I. Hair combings must not be thrown away, else the hair will not grow; nor should these combings be kept, else they will "come to worms" and the hair will not grow again. Therefore you should be sure to burn all combings. Virginia (negro). 742. If you lose a hair, you will have to search for it on the day of judgment. Alabama (negro). 743. Don't let any one get any of your hair combings, or he (she) can take all your hair out. Talladega, Ala. 744. If you throw hair combings out of doors, it is a sign that people will impose on you. Boston, Mass. 745. If you cut your hair and throw the clippings where they will keep moist, your hair will grow again quickly; but if you burn the cut hair, your hair will grow slowly or perhaps not at all. Salem, Mass. 66 Animal-Lore. 746. If finger-nails are eaten, they will stick in your heart and kill you. Central Maine. 747. If you swallow your finger-nail, it will kill you. Springfield, Mass. 748. It is unlucky to bite your finger-nails. Nails are poison to eat. Bathurst, N. B. 749. If you cut your nails on Friday, you will have hang-nails. Central Maine. 750. Cut the baby's nails every Friday, and it will never have toothache. 75 I. If you cut off your finger-nails on Friday, you will never have the toothache. 752. Cut your nails on Friday, and you will have toothache. Chester, N. H. 753. For toothache, cut off part of the nails of the fingers and toes and insert them in the bark of a tree, or put them in a hole in the tree and cover them up. This must be done secretly. Conception Bay, N. F. 754. If the tree is afterward cut down, the cure will fail. Labrador. 755. You must not cut your nails on Friday, or the devil will make a comb of them to comb your hair. Salem, Mass. 756. On cutting nails, Cut them on Monday, Cut them for health; Cut them on Tuesday, Cut them for wealth; Cut them on Wednesday, Cut them for news; Cut them on Thursday, A pair of new shoes; Cut them on Friday, Cut them for sorrow; Cut them on Saturday, A present to-morrow; But he that on Sunday cuts his corn, Better that he had never been born. 757. A child's milk-tooth, when extracted, must be put where no Folk-Lore of Ectodermal Structures. 67 dog, cat, or pig can get it and swallow it, else the child will get the peculiar tooth of the animal that has eaten it in place of the one lost. Such teeth are often burned. Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, and New Brunswick; general in the United States. 758. By preserving the first teeth, the second teeth are kept from decaying. Hartford, Conn. 759. If you lose a tooth, you will have to search for it on the Day of Judgment. Alabama (negro). CHAPTER VII. FOLK-MEDICINE. BLOOD AND RAW FLESH. 760. The blood of a black cat will cure a spavined horse. Bay of Islands, N. F. 761. Blood from the tip of the tail of a black cat without a single white hair will cure a sty. Exploits, N. F. 762. Snip off the end of a black cat's tail; catch a few drops of blood on a lump of sugar, and swallow it to cure "shingles." Chestertown, Md. (negro). 763. Black cat's blood will cure the "shingles." Somerset Co., Me. 764. The "shingles" may be cured by applying the freshly removed skin of a cat to the affected surface. Eastern and Central United States. 765. If a ringworm meets (closes up), it will kill the patient. Cut the ear or tail of a perfectly black cat, drop the blood on the ringworm, and it will prevent the closing of the ringworm. Cape Breton. 766. Hives may be cured by applying to the itching skin the freshly flayed skin of a black cat. Eastern Massachusetts. 767. In the early twenties of the century, it was held by the Dutch folk that any inflammation might be cured by the application of the reeking skin of a newly killed cat. Brunswick, N.J. 768. An old negro was cured of consumption by an Indian doctor, within thirty or forty years, by putting on the freshly stripped skin of a black cat. Salem, Mass. 769. The heart of a black cat, applied as soon as the cat is killed, will stop bleeding from a wound. Bay of Islands, N FE 770. For "lump cramp" twist an eel, skinned alive, around the affected muscles. Bay of Islands, N F. Folk-Medicine. 69 77i. A living fowl, cut open and applied to the diseased surface, will cure the " shingles." Freeport, Me., and Northern Ohio. 772. For internal diseases apply a freshly killed fowl to the patient's breast, using a cock for a sick man and a hen for a sick woman. Green Harbor, Trinity Bay, N. F. 773. Scarlet fever or diphtheria may be cured by applying to the patient's chest the raw flesh of a stunned (but not dead) fowl. Woburn, Mass. 774- Snake-bites are cured by applying to the bite the raw and bleeding surface of the flesh of a fowl that has been stunned. Sometimes several are used in succession. Michigan. 775. A freshly killed chicken, if applied to a snake-bite, will cure it. Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri. 776. Cut open a living fowl and apply while warm for rheumatism. Wood's Cross, Utah. 777. Roast a live chicken or a frog and apply for rheumatism. Wood's Cross, Utah. 778. A live pigeon torn in two and applied to the parts of the body affected with acute rheumatism will cure it. Kansas. 779. The nausea of "milk-sickness" may be cured by drinking water containing a few drops of the fresh blood of a chicken. 780. Blood taken from the single end of the comb of a cock, dropped in the mouth and then rinsed out, will cure the thrush. Bay of Islands, N. F. 781. Inflammation of the bowels may be cured by laying on the abdomen the skin just removed from a lamb. Central New York. 782. To cure asthma stand the patient in the warm entrails of a sheep. Lake Winola, Pa. 783. Three lice taken in jelly nine days running, or put on buttered bread, will cure the yellow jaundice. Labrador. 784. Swallowing a live head-louse, without the knowledge of the patient, will cure the jaundice. Marshall Co., Ind., and Chicago, Ilt. 785. Chilblains are cured by wrapping the feet in a "warm, bloody rabbit skin." Ohio. 70 Anima-Lore. 786. The skin of a rabbit's stomach (belly?) tied around the neck of a teething child will relieve it. Arkansas (negro). 787. Biting into a live black snake will insure sound teeth for the one who bites it. General in the United States. 788. To bite into a living black snake will cure the toothache. Eastern Massachusetts. 789. An old gentleman in Vermont said that when young he was persuaded to bite a rattlesnake through from head to tail, to insure sound teeth. Indians and French Canadians near him in Vermont eighty years ago fried and ate rattlesnakes to secure long life. 790. To forestall toothache, a young man bit into a live rattlesnake through the skin along the back, from head to tail. The man had fine teeth at middle age. Washington Co., Vt. 791. An Indian doctor prescribed in a case of fever and ague a rattlesnake's heart, warm and whole. New Hampshire. 792. Bind a toad on a ring-bone on a horse for five or six days, and it will cure it. Ohio. 793. Intestinal worms in children may be cured by putting live angleworms(?) in a bag on the belly of the child nine successive mornings, changing them daily. Bay of Islands, N. F. 794. Toothache may be cured by putting a live worm in the bottom of the bowl of a new pipe, which is then filled with tobacco and smoked. Bay of Islands and Carbonear, N. F. EXCRETA. 795. Cow-dung, fresh as possible, plastered on an inflamed breast (commonly known as " bealed " breast), has been used within the last twenty-five years. Cape Breton. 796. A poultice made of fresh, warm cow-dung is said to cure rheumatism. New York State. 797. Water standing in the depression of cow-dung was formerly recommended as a certain cure for pulmonary consumption. Western New York. 798. Goose manure is supposed by some people to cure pimples on the face. Walnut, Ind. F~olk-~-Medicine.e 7I 799. To cure spine disease, put earthworms in a jar with horsedung. Let them decay until a liquid is formed. Rub the sick person with the liquid. Boston, Mass. 800. Jaundice is cured by drinking sheep-dung steeped in water. Bay of Islands, N. F. 80o. Sheep-dung tea will cure measles. General in Cape Breton and in Eastern and Central United States. 802. Human urine will cure chapped hands. I.', ' New Brunswick and Deer Isle, Me. 803. Urinate into your shoe to prevent its squeaking. Deer Isle, Me. 804 Boys urinated on their legs before swimming to prevent cramp. Eastern Maine (twenty to thirty years ago). 805. Human urine is recommended for bronchial affections (the urine to be swallowed). Moncton, N. B. 806. A parturient woman drank the urine of her little son. New Hampshire (forty to fifty years ago). (Related by a doctor who knew of the fact.) 807. Bathing inflamed eyes with human urine will cure them. Eastern Massachusetts. 808. Washing the face with the diaper on which a new-born babe has urinated for the first time will cure freckles. Cape Breton. 809. Wash the face with urine or the wet diaper of an infant to prevent or remove freckles. Northeastern and Central United States. HAIR AND NAIL. 8Io. Three hairs from the tip of a black cat's tail put on a felon will cure it. Southern Illinois. 811. A sty may be cured by rubbing it with a black cat's tail. Alabama. 812. Draw the tip of the tail of a black cat nine times across the eye, and it will cure a sty. Georgia and Texas. 813. To cure toothache, cut bits of your hair and nails, bore a 72 Animal-Lore. hole in an apple-tree, and plug in the cuttings. The tooth will never ache again. Annapolis, N. S. 814. To cure fits, make a pone of corn-bread with water in which the patient has washed, mixing in it the parings of finger and toe nails and a lock of the patient's hair. Wrap it in some of the patient's soiled clothing, and throw it into a river at midnight in the dark of the moon. Southern negro. 815. If you have asthma, save all the nail-parings of your hands and feet for a year. At the end of that time find an ash-tree of the same age as yourself, bore a hole in it, put in the parings, and plug up the hole. Rhode Island. 816. To cure asthma, stand the patient with his back to a sugarmaple-tree, bore a hole in the trunk, insert a lock of the patient's hair, fasten it in with a plug, and then cut off the hair. Lake Winola, Pa. 817. The hair of a negro applied to the ear will cure earache. 818. Wool from a black sheep will cure earache. Bathurst, N. B. 819. Moisten a piece of wool from a black sheep with eel oil, or if that cannot be had, with goose grease, and put it in the ear for earache. Cape Breton. 820. Wool from a black sheep wet in new milk, if applied to the ear, will cure earache. Mount Desert, Me. OILS. 821. The grease tried out during the process of roasting a black cat will cure any kind of skin disease. Plymouth, Ohio. 822. Black sheep's wool, applied with cod oil, is good for diseases of the stomach. Newfoundland. 823. The fat obtained from a black dog (without a white hair), cooked and eaten, will cure consumption. Central Maine. 824. Dog fat will cure consumption. Kansas. 825. Rheumatism may be cured by rubbing the affected part with the oil obtained by leaving earthworms to be tried out in a bottle by the heat of the sun. New England. Folk-Medicine. 73 826. 'Cook clay, lard, and angleworms together, and use as a salve for rheumatism. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 827. Marrow from the jaw-bone of a hog stewed in vinegar and put on the throat will cure stiff neck and sore throat. Chestertown, Md. 828. Jelly-fish rendered out in a bottle will cure rheumatism, bruises, and sprains. Trinity Bay and Scilly Cove, NV F. 829. Bear's grease is believed to be the best possible application to renew the hair. General in the United States. 830. Muskrat oil is good "to bring in the hair." Vermont. 83I. Rheumatism may be cured by rubbing the affected part with skunk oil. Eastern and Central United States. 832. Rheumatism may be cured by rubbing the affected part with snake oil. Eastern and Central United States. 833. Use rattlesnake oil for rheumatism. Ohio. 834. When a child is teething, rub the gums with squirrel's brains whilst warm, and it will cause the child to cut its teeth without trouble. Fort Worth, Tex. 835. The grease of a weasel, used as an ointment, will cure pimples or a roughened skin. Central Maine. 836. Worms melted or dissolved, by standing in a bottle, put in the ear will cure earache or deafness. Trinity Bay and Bay of Islands, N F. PARASITES. 837. A woman slept with her windows open. A June-bug flew in, crawled down her throat, and ate a hole in her stomach, causing death. Walnut, 1nd. 838. The American Indians believe that some batrachian or reptile is often alive in the human stomach and is the cause of pain, etc., and can be removed by fasting and lying down beside a spring or brook, when the creature comes out to drink. They believe also that white people are often mistakenly doctored for disease when an animal in the stomach is the cause. 74 Animal-Lore. 839. A lizard in the stomach (which has crawled into the throat while the victim was asleep out of doors) can be got rid of by eating salt and lying down near water. Nashua, N. H. 840. Be careful on going near a tree in which a lizard is, as he may jump down your throat. Ohio. 84I. If by accident a snake's egg be swallowed, it may hatch and live for months or even years in the human stomach. Such parasites can only be got rid of by continued fasting. Then the snake will become so hungry that if the afflicted person bend over boiling milk or other savory food, the snake may crawl out to feed. Massachusetts and Connecticut. 842. A man died from the effects of a belief that he harbored a living snake. A post-mortem examination was refused. Pike Co., Ill. SALIVA. 843. Wet a mosquito or other insect bite with saliva. Brought into New Brunswick by a Spanish Moor from Castile within sixty or seventy years. 844. Moisten a mosquito bite, a slight bee sting, the bite of a fly, etc., with saliva. New Brunswick and United States. 845. It is customary to suck an injured finger and to wet with spittle the eyes if tired. General in the United States. 846. A grand-daddy-long-legs will put an injured leg into his mouth. North Cambridge, Mass. 847. Pimples may be removed by moistening them with saliva. New Portland, Me. 848. Warts may be removed by rubbing them with saliva. Eastern Massachusetts and Central New York. 849. Moisten a corn with fasting spittle for nine mornings in succession to cure it. Prince Edward Island. 850. Ringworm may be cured by moistening the finger in the mouth, and then rubbing it around the diseased spot in the same direction in which the sun moves. Central Maine. 851. A very intelligent lady of good family was advised to remove a birthmark from the face and shoulder of her newly-born daughter Folk-Medicine. 75 by licking the mark for nine successive mornings, fasting and in silence (at any time after twelve o'clock midnight). The cure was successfully tried. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 852. To cure a burn, moisten it with saliva, repeating:As far as the east is from the west, Come out fire and go in frost; In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Come out fire and go in frost. Blow three times on the burn and rub sunwise three times. Eastern Tennessee. 853. A sty or ophthalmia may be cured by wetting the eye for nine mornings in succession with fasting saliva. Gaelic community, Cape Breton. 854. Sore eyes may be cured by anointing them with saliva, upon awakening, for three mornings in succession. Northern Ohio. 855. Confervaceous plants (Spirogyra and similar forms), such as float on the surface of pools, are called "frog-spit," and are used as an application for inflamed eyes. Woburn, Mass. 856. The saliva of the lower animals, e.g. that of the dog, has great healing powers. Wounds licked by a dog will heal quickly. Trinity Bay, N. F.; general in the United States. 857. The saliva of an angry dog is thought to be poisonous to one bitten by the dog. General in the United States. 858. The saliva of an angry horse, and of a rat at all times, is supposed to poison persons bitten by the animal. General in the United States. 859. The saliva of an angry man is thought to be poisonous to one bitten by the man. General in the United States. 860. If a man spits into the mouth of a snake, the latter will die. Maine. 86i. If one spits upon the back of a toad, it will burst open. London, Can. 862. If a toad spits on a human being, warts will be caused. London, Can. 863. "Toad-spit," or "snake-spit," is the name given to the exudation of Cercopidac (leaf-hoppers), and it is thought to blister the skin of the feet of barefooted children. Reading, Mass. 76 Animal-Lore. 864. " Toad-spit" found on wild strawberry plants is thought to be very poisonous. Bathurst, N. B. SKINS OF ANIMALS. 865. The skin of a black cat, if worn in one's clothing, will cure rheumatism. Eastern Kansas. 866. Tie the hair up with eelskin to make it grow. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 867. An eelskin worn around the waist will cure or prevent cramp or rheumatism. Maine. 868. Eight years ago eelskins were kept for sale in a fish market for the cure of rheumatism. Waltham, Mass. 869. Eelskin or snakeskin wrapped about the wrist is good for rheumatism or sprains. Cape Breton. 870. The skin of an eel worn about the leg will cure rheumatism. Lawrence, Kan. 871. Rheumatism and sprains may be relieved by wrapping the suffering limb in a snakeskin. New England. 872. The skin of the rattlesnake, worn as a belt (provided the snake has not bitten itself), will prevent backache. Lawrence, Kan. 873. Wrapping the skin of a black snake about your body will make you strong and supple. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 874. Snakeskin, especially rattlesnake's skin, wrapped about the ankle on going swimming, will prevent cramp. New Hampshire. 875. Dried snakeskin in the ear will cure toothache. New Hampshire. 876. After parturition, the expulsion of the placenta of a cow may be aided by feeding her chopped-up portions of snakeskin, mixed with other food. New England. 877. To cure corns, wrap them in the skin of a squid. Bay of Islands, N. F. SPIDERS AND THEIR WEBS. 878. Cobwebs wet in hot water and applied to the breast will cure acute inflammation of that part. Vermont. Folk-Medi'cine. 77 879. Cobwebs wet in hot water and applied externally will cure diseases of the kidneys and bladder. Northern New York. 880. A spider-web wrapped about a felon will cure it. Deerfield, Mass. 88I. Pills made by rolling up bits of spider-web will cure ague. Central Illinois. 882. Pull off the legs of a grand-daddy-long-legs, and swallow the body for ague. Chestertown, Md. TRANSFERENCE TO ANIMALS. 883. The health of children is improved by having them play with dogs. General in the United States. 884. The negro sleeps frequently with a young dog, in order to transmit rheumatism to the dog. Eastern Kansas. 885. A few years ago, a young man in Holyoke, Mass. (a commonsense person) had a child ill with dumb ague. By advice he got a pup and put it in the child's cradle. The dog broke out in sores, and the child got well. 886. A Mexican hairless dog sleeping at the foot of one's bed cures rheumatism. American newspaper. VARIOUS. 887. A boy with a badly scalded foot at Squire's packing-house was cured by having his foot licked all over by a man who had touched his tongue to an asloka. The foot swelled, but did not blister. Cambridge, Mass., January, 1892. 888. Bahama negroes cure earache by pouring the water from the great claw of a white crab into the "ear-'ole." Green Turtle Cay. 889. The gastroliths of crayfish were once widely sold as "eyestones," and believed to have special virtue for removing bits of sand, cinder, and so on from the eye. General in the United States. 890. The hair of the dog will cure his bite. General in Canada and the United States. 89I. The liver of a dog placed on a bite made by the same dog will cure it. Trinity Bay, N. F. 892. To win the love of a person, swallow raw a white dove's 78 Animal-Lore. heart, point downward, and while swallowing it, place your hand on the shoulder of the one in whom love is to be inspired. St. Joseph, Mo. (negro). 893. Take some amaranth seeds, some new wheat (pounded), the first honey from a new hive, and a white dove's heart, powdered dry. Make these into a cake, and get your loved one to eat it if you wish to win his love. St. Joseph, Mo. (negro). 894. A felon can be cured by wrapping the affected finger in the membrane which lines an egg-shell. Central Maine. 895. Pounded egg-shells are given for ague. Vernon, N. Y. 896. Negroes believe in the "hand of glory," just as it is described in British folk-lore. Southern Georgia. 897. A salt herring bound around the throat will cure sore throat, worn on the head and feet it will cure headache, or bound on the feet will cure fevers. Bay of Islands, N. F. 898. Children can be cured of "wetting the bed" by roasting a mouse. Labrador. 899. Children can be cured of "wetting the bed " by catching a mouse on Friday and putting it in tea to be drunk by the children, or by giving them rat pie or mouse pie. Bay of Islands, N. F. o900. Fried mice given to children will keep them from "wetting the bed." Chestertown, Md. (negro). 901. Mare's milk will remove freckles. Cape Breton. 902. Mare's milk is good for whooping-cough. Chestertown, Md. 903. Give the first milk after calving to the cow as a physic. Ohio. go904. Negroes think that there is a hair attached to the palate. This hair is near the crown of the head, and must be kept twisted up tight to keep the palate from falling. Orlando, Fla. 905. Hornets' nests are made into a poultice for rheumatism. Plymouth, Ohio. 906. Hornets' nests mixed with oats are fed to horses to cure the "heaves" or distemper. Breathing the vapor that arises from the Folk-Medicine. 79 nests when mixed with hot water will clear the horse's head (of catarrh). Plymouth, Ohio. 907. Negroes think that sore throat is caused by the falling of the palate. Orlando, Fla. 908. Give a child rat soup to prevent his wetting the bed. Eastern Massachusetts. 909. For sore throat or a stiff neck, bind about the neck at night a woollen stocking worn through the day, with the sweaty sole next to the neck. Miramichi, N. B., and Mansfield, Ohio. 9Io. A rabbit's stomach, dried, powdered, and eaten, cures most diseases, especially the "conjure sickness." Arkansas (negro). 9II. Give a child all the brown sugar it wants —a pound or more - to prevent wetting the bed. Eastern Massachusetts. 912. Toothache can be cured forever by burning a small nerve in the ear. Northern Ohio. 913. A fresh-water trout, rubbed over the face, will cure freckles. Newfoundland. CHAPTER VIII. VARIOUS. MAMMALS. 914. Many persons believe that a man has one less rib than a woman. General in the United States. 915. White people are descendants of Cain. All mankind was once black, but when the Lord asked Cain where Abel was, Cain turned white with fright and so remained. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 916. It is believed that women occasionally give birth to puppies or other non-human offspring. 917. Mermaids not infrequently come alongside a ship and call for some man. If he is n't thrown over to the mermaid, she can overturn the ship. Told by sailors. Learnedfrom a Baltimore mulatto, a stewardess. 918. Donkeys are thought to be young mules. Not uncommon in the United States. 9I9. The dark stripes down the centre of a donkey's back and across its shoulders, thus forming a cross, are due to the fact that the donkey stood in the stable on the night of Christ's birth in the manger. Somewhat general in the United States. 920. Bears suck their paws all winter, and so don't eat during the winter. General in the United States. "A dog that sucks his paw has bear in him." Maine. 92I. " Bears used to be called 'wild men of the woods.' " Probably on account of their plantigrade feet. Miramichi, N. B. 922. An old tramp-woman came to a house where there were two little children and put them into the oven and baked them. When the oven door was opened, they ran out as two little bears. Hence bears are plantigrade. Central Maine. . Various. 8 923. Wounded bears rush at once to boggy places to get some moss and plug up their wounds. Tabusintac Valley, N. B. 924. The tail of the beaver is believed to be a trowel, and is so used by the animal. General in the United States. 925. Take a calf, to be slaughtered, away from the cow by the tail, and the cow will bellow less. Massachusetts. 926. Certain diseases in calves are said to be due to the hair of the tail being twisted too tight. The end of the tail must be cut off so as to draw blood. New England. 927. It is not best to try to raise the first calf of a heifer. South Framingham, Mass. 928. A cat should never be left alone with a sleeping child, as the cat may " suck the child's breath," and thus kill it. General in the United States. 929. The child who plays with a cat will become stupid. Hamilton Co., Ohio. 930. Never take a cat near a dead person lest the cat take the soul of the dead or even mutilate the dead. Lawrence, Kan. 931. The cat and the dog are enemies because the cat once stole the right of the dog. Hamilton Co., Ohio. 932. Grease a cat's feet, and she will stay at your house. Maine. 933. Cats can't smell if their whiskers are cut off. Chestertown, Md. 934. Cats go mad if allowed too much meat, or if they lie much by the fire. Brookline, Mass. 935. It is unsafe to have a cat in a room during a thunderstorm. New England. 936. In the tip of every cat's tail are three hairs of the devil. These give the tendency to prowl. Central Maine. 937. After death, the spirit of an old maid takes possession of some black cat. Alabama. 938. Kittens and puppies do not get their eyes open until after they are nine days old. General in the United States. 82 An~imal-Lore. 939. The upper incisors of a teething dog must be extracted as soon as they become loose, or the dog may swallow them and then "have fits." New England. 940. Dogs with double or single dew claws can see ghosts and witches. They are said not to go mad. Chestertown, Md. 941. The dog's nose is cold because he helped Noah to drive all the other animals aboard the ark. Going aboard last, he had, for lack of room, to stand forty days with his nose out in the rain. If a dog's nose gets warm, the dog will die. Eastern Kansas. 942. The callosities from a horse's foreleg will give to bait a flavor that will make fish bite. New England. 943. When a horse lies on his back and rolls from side to side, it is a sign he will live as many years as he makes complete turns. Brzynswick, N. Y: 944. A black horse cannot be used in summer, since it "draws the sun " too much. Holyoke, Mass., forty years ago. 945. If a horse "casts " himself, he may be cured by biting the tip of his tail. Rochester, Vt. 946. A runaway horse can always be stopped by biting its ear. Lawrence, Kan. 947. Lutins or des lutins ride horses at night, and leave them sweating and with their manes and forelocks braided. Central Maine. 948. Witches ride horses all night, and leave them dirty and worn out. Witch-ridden horses have their manes braided into loops, which serve the riders as stirrups. Eastern Shore of Maryland (negro). 949. Twenty or twenty-five years ago it was a somewhat popular belief that glycerine was manufactured from the urine of horses. Hennepin, Ill. 950. The mole comes out of his burrow for a few minutes every day at noon. General in the United States. 95I. Moles are said to be "old-time people," i. e. incarnations of people who lived long ago. Eastern Shore of Maryland (negro). 952. If a mule gets water into his ear, he will die. Lawrence, Kan. Various 83 953. If you cut a pig's tail off, it hastens the fattening process. Chestertown, Md., and Illinois. 954- It is believed by colored people that the openings of the sebaceous glands in the foreleg of the hog —openings about the size of a pin puncture - are holes through which the devil enters. A veterinary surgeon told me not long ago that they were "for the devil to come out." Lawrence, Kan. 955. Hogs can eat rattlesnakes without injury on account of the openings of the sebaceous glands in the foreleg, through which the poison can exude. Lawrence, Kan. 956. Pork killed during the wane of the moon will shrink in cooking. General in the United States. 957. It is believed that the American porcupine has power to hurl its quills at will. It is popularly believed that these animals use their quills as a means of defence. General in Canada and Western United States. 958. "A colored woman once told me that a rabbit, when chased by the dogs, would, if it had time enough, return to its startingplace, lick its four paws, make a jump, and the dogs could no longer trace it." Lawrence, Kan. 959. If you get a rat in a close place and attempt to drown it, it will try to drink up the water as fast as you pour it. Chestertown, Md. 960. Mice are young rats. A somewhat common belief in the United States. 96I. Rats and mice are thought to be male and female of the "same animal." Lawrence, Kan. 962. The bite of a ground-squirrel is "rank poison." Chestertown, Md. (negro). 963. The bite of a weasel is " rank poison." Chestertown, Md. (negro). 964. That the whale is a fish is generally believed in the United States and Canada. BIRDS. 965. The booming of the bittern is caused by his producing notes while sticking his bill into a reed or water or mud. Somewhat general in the United States. 84 Animal-Lore. 966. A turkey-buzzard buried in the ground for several days will gain in weight (in fat) several pounds. Southern Indiana. 967. If a buzzard catch you, he will pick out your eyes. This the bird does at once, so the victim cannot see to defend himself. Chestertown, Md. 968. Don't look up at a turkey-buzzard as he is directly above you, or he will vomit on you. Owensboro, Ky. (negro). 969. The "gapes" in chickens is caused by the scale which is found on the end of the bill, immediately after hatching. Remove this if you wish to prevent " gapes." Northern Ohio. 970. Take the pip off a chicken's bill and make the chick eat it to prevent "gapes." Chestertown, Md. 97I. Go to the chicken-coop at three o'clock any night and you will hear the chickens sneeze. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 972. If a chicken die in one's hands, it causes palsy. Eastern Kansas. 973. Do not let a chicken die in your hands, and you will never have the "trembles" (paralysis). La Salle Co., Ill. 974- Never drive awaya chicken or any house animal; they bring good luck. Eastern Massachusetts. 975. Split the tongue of a crow, and it will talk. General in the United States. 976. Long ago, crows could talk. Central Maine. 977. The dove and the eagle are the only two birds that go to heaven. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 978. Cut young ducklings' tails to make them thrive. Chestertown, Md. 979. A tiny facsimile of a chick may be seen in the white of a fresh egg. Toronto, Ont. 980. Eggs with wrinkled ends hatch into roosters. Maine. 98i. It is customary to mark eggs, when set under a hen, to distinguish them from those which may be laid in the nest. The marks put on the shell will be reproduced on the chick. Chestertown, Md. (negro). Various. 85 982. Set a hen on thirteen eggs for good luck. Maine. 983.. Set eggs on Sunday, and all the chicks will be roosters. Chestertown, Md. 984. The yolk of the egg hatches into the chicken, while the white produces the feathers. Cape Breton and New England. 985. Try eggs in warm water after they have been set about a week; those that "kick " will be sure to hatch. Chestertown, Md. 986. When taking freshly laid goose eggs from the nest, if you turn them over, they will not hatch. Chestertown, Md. 987. When goose eggs are set under a hen, they must be wet and turned every day to make them hatch. Chestertown, Md. 988. If it thunders on Sunday, goose eggs will not hatch. Lewisburg, Pa. 989. Wild geese on the wing group themselves so as to form the letters of the alphabet. New England. 990. Wild geese in flying form the initial letter of their destination; i. e. they make an S if flying south, an N if flying north, etc. Massachusetts. 991. "Jay-birds" are never seen on Friday, because on that day they are carrying sand to the devil. Maryland and Tennessee. 992. Jay-birds are never seen on Friday, as then they are carrying sticks to the devil to build fires with. Chestertown, Md. 993. Jay-birds are on duty in hell every third day. They go as messengers to tell of backsliders, etc., to the devil. " Heaven 's no place for them." Chestertown, Md. (negro). 994. The snowbird is believed to turn into a chipping sparrow in summer. New York. REPTILES. 995. Lizards (also salamanders?) are all considered venomous. Alma, Kan. 996. The bite of a harmless little green lizard (Sceloporus?) is supposed to be fatal. Southern United States. 997. The first thunder heard in the spring is believed to waken the snakes. Chestertown, Md., and Tennessee. * 86 4 nimal-Lore. 998. A snake's tail will not die until sundown. General in the United States. 999. If a drop of rain falls upon a dead snake before sundown, the snake will come to life. Lawrence, Kan. 1ooo. The bite of every kind of snake is thought to be dangerous. Nova Scotia; general in the United States. 1ooI. Snakes charm birds and animals, even human beings. General in the United States. oo002. If a snake can succeed in spitting into the mouth of a human being, it will kill him. New England. I003. The water-adder (Tropidonotus sipedon) carries a poisonous sting in its tail. New England. I004. The breath of the "blow snake" (Heterodon platyrhinus) is "sure death " to the one who breathes it. Illinois. Ioo5. If one is bitten by a snake and cannot get to water before the snake can, the person bitten will die; but if he reaches water before the snake, the latter will die and his intended victim recover. Nova Scotia. Ioo6. If you run crooked away from a snake which chases you, it will break his back. Chestertown, Md. 1007. It is a belief that snakes and black cats are incarnations of the devil. When the Ames crevasse occurred, multitudes of snakes were left upon the subsiding water, and negroes refused to kill them. New Orleans, La. (negro). Ioo8. A snake is said to stay near the skin it has shed. Marlborough, N. H. oo009. If a dead snake is dragged along the ground, its mate will follow along the track. If such a snake is killed, look out, for its mate will go to look for it. Chestertown, Md. Ioo1. Snakes are deaf. Chestertown, Md. I oI. A cow which gives less milk than usual is thought to have been sucked by a garter snake. Maine. Also a common belief in western New York forty years ago. IOI2. Black snakes often wrap themselves about the legs of cows and suck the cows, which then give bloody milk. Such milk is poisonous to human beings. Sometimes the snakes sting the cow. Baltimore, Md. (negro). Various. 87 o013. Black snakes suck cows. Cows will low for the snake, and the latter will wait for the cow in a certain part of the field. Chestertown, Md. (negro.) IoI4. "A colored woman told me her father once killed a milk snake that was stealing the milk from their cow, and that the cow lowed until she died of grief." Lawrence, Kan. 1015. "Fish worms" turn into snakes when they grow big enough. Billerica, Mass. IOI6. The "hoop snake" takes its tail in its mouth and rolls toward its victim, whom it strikes with the poisonous tail. Central and Southern States. IOI7. The "ring snake" will, by taking its tail in its mouth, roll like a hoop until it strikes an object. If the object is an animal, it will die; if a plant, it will be blighted. Lawrence, Kan. IoI8. If you make a whip snake angry, it will crack its tail like a whip. Lawrence, Kan. Io19. If you cut a snake into two pieces, the part containing the head will swallow the tail, and it will grow on again and the snake be as good as ever. Orleans, Cape Cod. I020. A snake known as the "joint snake" can be broken into many pieces, which will then reunite into a living snake. General in the United States. 102I. Some snakes have a two-forked tail with which they attack people, thrusting one prong up each nostril. Cazenovia, N. Y. 1022. The black snake can stand erect on its tail, and in that position run after one. On catching its victim, it winds itself about him, so as to tie him to a tree and then whip him to death with its tail. Then it runs its tail up the nostril of the victim to make sure that he is dead. This snake is called the "coach whip.". Georgia and South Carolina. I023. If you swallow the heart of a black snake, it will make you ill-natured, or, others say, long-winded. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 1024. Rattlesnakes will not molest hogs. Western United States. I025. A rattlesnake always rattles three times before striking. Chestertown, Md. 1026. Rattlesnakes are especially feared in July and August, as 88 AnimalLore. then they are said to be blind and strike at anything they hear moving. Florida. I027. If you cut the rattles of a rattlesnake, the juice will fly into your eyes and make you blind. Lawrence, Kan. 1028. Children are often frightened by being told that black snakes crawl up mulberry-trees, and lie out along the limbs to eat the mulberries. Chestertown, Md. 1029. Put a snake in the fire or an eel in the frying-pan, and its feet will come out, i. e. appear. Chestertown, Md. (negro). 103o. Every kind of meat, e. g. beef, pork, chicken, etc., is found in a turtle. General in the United States. I031. If a turtle bite you, it will not let go until sundown. New Brunswick. 1032. If a turtle bite you, it will not let go until it thunders. Maine and Tennessee. 1033. If a live coal is put on a turtle's back, the animal will crawl out of his shell and leave it. Portsmouth, N. H. 1034. If one's initials are carved on the under side of a turtle's shell, it will never leave the locality. Bucks Co., Pa. 1035. If you cut a turtle's head off, its body will live nine days. Southern Pennsylvania. AMPHIBIANS. 1036. The yellow-spotted salamander (Amblystoma punctatum) is known as "man-creeper" or "man-killer," and is thought to contain enough poison to kill as many men as the animal has spots. Near Halifax, N. S. 1037. A large family were poisoned, dropping down unconscious one by one till all (twelve or more) were dead or dying. A lizard was found in the teakettle from which the tea was made. Cape Breton. I038. Little red "lizards" rain down. New Hampshire. 1039. Handling a toad will cause freckles. New England. 1040. Touching toads will cause warts. General in the United States. Various. 89 I04I. If you whip a hop-toad, it will cry like a baby, i. e. with noise and tears. Chestertown, Md. FISHES. I042. If you count your fish when angling, you'll catch no more. 1043. Fish bite best when the mockingbird sings. Lawrence, Kan. io44. If a shark continue to follow a ship for some days, it is a sign that there will be a death, i. e. that a body will be thrown overboard. Sailors' superstition. o045. The black line along each side of the haddock's body is said to be due to the fact that he was seized by the devil's finger and thumb, but slipped through and escaped, retaining this mark. New England coastfishermen. o046. The black marks on the haddock are caused by the marks of the devil's fingers where he clutched the fish. As the latter slipped away, the devil said, "Ha, ha, Dick!" Prince Edward Island. MOLLUSKS. 1047. Oysters should only be eaten in months in whose names is found the letter R. In other months these shellfish are said to be unwholesome. General in the United States. ARACHNIDS. 1048. "Daddy-long-legs" will point out with one leg, if held by another leg, where the cows are. General in the United States. o049. The blood or "juice" of any crushed spider is poisonous. Maine. 1050. The "juice" of a red spider is poisonous. Central Maine. INSECTS. Io05. If, when hunting cows, one find an ant-hill, and call "doodle" three times, the direction the ants run indicates the direction of the cows. Lawrence, Kan. 1052. It is customary, when bees swarm and go forth from the hive, to make a din by pounding on a frying-pan, tin kettle, etc., to make the bees alight. Somewhat general in the United States. 90 Animal-Lore. I053. Bees won't thrive if made the subject of the least dispute. I054. If bees are not notified when a member of the family dies, the bees will leave the place. Taunton, Mass. I055. If you catch a bumblebee in your hand and hold your breath, it won't sting while you hold your breath. Concord, Mass., and Richview, Ill. 1056. Honeybees can be caught and held between the hollows of the palms of crossed hands as long as the captor can hold his breath. New Jersey. 1057. A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay; A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon; A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a fly. Franklin, P. Q., and Westport, Mass. 1058. Beehives should be turned around immediately after a death to ward off death from the rest of the family. Near Salem, Ind. 1059. Cockroaches will gnaw one's toe-nails at night unless the feet are well covered by the bedclothes. Boston, Mass. Io60. Catch a roach, put it in a piece of paper with a small amount of money, and give the parcel to any one who will take it, and the roaches will go to the victim. Springfield, Mass. Io6I. Dragon-flies have poisonous stings, or will "sew your ears together." Somewhat general in the United States. 1062. The dragon-fly will sew up various parts of the human body, e. g. the lips, throat, nostrils, eyelids, or ears. New England and Central States. o063. The devil's darning-needle will sew together the fingers or toes of a person who goes to sleep within its reach. Dubuque Co., Iowa. o064. The devil's darning-needle is said to sew up the mouths of scolding women, saucy children, and profane men. Kansas. Io65. The devil's darning-needle will sting you to death. Oneida, III. io66. The devil's darning-needle is sometimes called "Dickin Various. 91 son's horse" or "Dickinson's mare," and in Eastern Iowa it is said sometimes to enter the ears and penetrate the brain of a person. Dubuque Co., Iowa. o067. The dragon-fly is known as "snake feeder," from his supposed service to snakes. Central States. o068. The dragon-fly is known as "snake doctor" from his supposed professional services to snakes. Southern Central States. o069. If fire from the firefly gets into the eye, it will put it out. Chestertown, Md. (negro). I070. " A fly won't stay on the stomach," if swallowed by a human being. Somewhat general in the United States. I071. If a katydid bites you, you '11 have fits. Chestertown, Md. I072. If a mosquito lights on you and you hold your breath, he can't get away, and you can pick him off. Medford, Mass., and Chestertown, Md. 1073. "Butterflies make moths, therefore they had better be killed." Eastern Massachusetts. 1074. The Sphinx moth is a cross between a hummingbird and a butterfly. Maine and Ohio. I075. The Sphinx moth "turns into" a hummingbird. Indiana and California. I076. A glimpse at the death's-head moth is fatal. Lawrence, Kan. MYRIAPODS. 1077. The earwig (Geophilus) will creep into one's ear and eat out his brains. General in the United States. I078. Earwigs are said to run into one's ears. New England. 1079. If an earwig get in the ear, lie with that ear down on freshly turned-up soil, and stay so till the earwig goes into the ground. Southern States. CRUSTACEANS. Io80. The little oyster crab (Pinnotheres), so often found within the oyster-shell, is commonly thought to have been eaten by the oyster and not digested. Eastern Massachusetts. 92 Animal-Lore. Io8I. The mark on the leg of a lobster is said to be its name. Newfoundland. ECHINODERMS. IO82. The schoolmaster and other leading citizens thought that the young starfish came from a clypeaster (sea-urchin) shell. Green Turtle Cay, Bahama Islands. VARIOUS. Io83. All cattle drop down upon their knees at the hour of the Saviour's birth. It is common to watch the cattle. Westford, Mass. 1084. Dumb creatures kneel on Christmas night at midnight, twelve o'clock. Deer Isle, Me., Massachusetts, and Maryland. o185. Cattle all kneel on "Old Christmas night;" they pray for: A cold winter, A warm spring, A bloody summer, And a new king. Chestertown, Md. (related by an old negro). Io86. Roosters crow at all hours the night before Christmas. Mansfield, Ohio. 1087. The various kinds of land animals are represented in the sea. Cape Cod. Io88. Every animal has enough brains to tan its own skin (wolf, panther, wildcat, etc.). Texas (Mexicans and Indians). Io89. There is a certain mysterious lynx in the forests of Eastern Maine which dogs and Indians will not track. Maine. o190. A legend is told of a gigantic turtle to be found in the swamps of Mexico. o109. "Every part strengthens a part;" that is, any organ of an animal, when eaten, develops the same part in the person who eats it. General in the United States. 1092. It is dangerous to eat beeswax. Maine. 1093. Beeswax will stop up your veins. You must not eat it. -Mansfield, Ohio. Various. 93 IO94. Stones placed in the fork of a plum-tree will prevent curculio. Northern Ohio. 1095. A hymenopterous insect, which somewhat resembles a red ant, is known as "cow-killer," from the (imaginary) effects of its sting upon cattle. Alabama and Texas. Io96. The disease in cows supposed to arise from the cow's "losing her cud" may be cured by throwing a live frog down her throat. Bradford, Mass. 1097. If a cow loses her cud, and is not given a piece of raw beef "to chew on " until she recovers the cud, she will die. Lawrence, Kan. Io98. Feathers protect against lightning. Therefore, in aviolent thunderstorm, it is supposed one may make himself safe against being struck by lightning if he lie on a feather bed. Andover, Mass., and Northern Ohio. o199. It is said one cannot die easily on a feather bed. Take away the bed. This has been done within twenty years. Mansfield, Ohio. 11OO. Many common fossilized corals are mistaken for petrified wasps' nests, and are so called; another common coral (Streptelasma) is supposed to be the petrified horns of calves; a common brachiopod cast (Pentamerus oblongus) is thought to be a fossil impression of a deer's foot. Southwestern Ohio. IIOI. Children often believe that tadpoles actually drop their tails into the water before they become frogs. 1102. Never eat the gizzard of a chicken, or you will tell all your secrets. Lawrence, Kan. I03. Swallow a whole goose gizzard, and it will make you pretty. Chestertown, Md. 1o4. The root of a human hair (as seen in combings) is popularly taken for a parasite, and known as a "hair-eater." Maine and Massachusetts. I o5. Human hair turns to snakes in stagnant water. A young woman in Vermont was thought to have been drowned in a well partly filled with rubbish. Hair was found there. The people then said it was not true, or her hair would have turned to snakes, having been there long enough. Northern Vermont. 94 AnimalLore. I Io6. Any kind of hair, after being swallowed by a human being, turns into snakes. Maine. 1107. Cat's hair, if swallowed, turns into worms. Pennsylvania. I io8. Swallowing a cat's hair causes consumption. Hennepin, Ill. I o9. Some people believe that if the hair of a black cat is swallowed, it will become intestinal worms. Lawrence, Kan. I I Io. A child will die if it swallows a hair of a black cat. Lawrence, Kan. 1111. Horsehairs put into water will "come alive.". Cape Breton. 1112. A horsehair, put into water, will turn into a "ramper (lamprey?) eel. Miramichi, N. B. II 3. Horsehairs are popularly believed to "turn into snakes" when placed in water. General in the United States. 1114. A horsehair put into running water, under a stone, for thirty days, will turn into a "snake." Winn, Me. I I 15. In order to have horsehairs turn into snakes in water, rainwater must be used. Cambridge, Mass. I 11 6. A horsehair, to turn into a snake, must have the root left on, to make the head of the snake, into which the hair will turn in nine days. Eastern Massachusetts. I I7. Tie knots in horsehairs for heads to snakes. New Jersey and Michigan. III8. If children do not have their hair well combed and kept clean, lice will get into it and make a rope of the dirt, with which they will drag the child to a river and drown him. Salem, Mass., and Northern Ohio. 11 9. The "lady" in a lobster (its stomach) is poisonous. Massachusetts. 120. Black and blue spots are marks of the dead man's pinch. La Salle Co., Ill. 112. Negroes tell their children to look out for the medical students, or they '11 catch them and make medicine of them. Philadelphia, Pa. I 22. The caustic, produced by reflected light, as seen in a cylin Various. 95 drical tumbler or silver mug of milk, is said to " show the cow's foot in the milk." This is evidently a bit of the same kind of pseudoreasoning as is employed in cases where the doctrine of signatures is used. I123. Milk will draw lightning. People milking during a thunderstorm had better stop at once; if not, they will see the lightning play inside the pail. Cape Breton. 1124. If you milk a cow onto the ground, it will make the cow go dry. Chestertown, Md. II25. After washing the keelers and other milk vessels in a running brook, bury the cloth with which they have been washed to bring good luck to your milk. Baddeck, Cape Breton. I126. When people die, they swallow their tongues..Deering, Me. 1127. Ammonia is quite popularly supposed to be manufactured from the urine of animals or from other loathsome excreta. I PART II. PLANT-LORE. I CHAPTER IX. AMULETS, CHARMS, AND DIVINATIONS. AMULETS. 1128. Pyrus Americana, the mountain ash, is called witch-wood, and is supposed, when carried, to keep off witches. New Hampshire. II29. "Buckeyes," carried in the pocket, will keep off chills the year round. Talladega, Ala. (negro). I 30. To carry a "buckeye " is preventive of cramp. Plymouth, Ohio. II3I. A horse-chestnut, carried in the pocket, brings good luck. New Jersey. 132. The true chestnut (Castanea) is sometimes carried in the pocket to prevent rheumatism. Somewhat general in the United States. II33. Wear "camphire" gum about your neck, and you will not catch diseases. Nova Scotia. 1134. A double cedar knot is carried in the pocket as a cure for rheumatism. Miramichi, N. B. 1I35. Lumbermen carry cedar knots in their pockets as a cure and also as a preventive for rheumatism. Michigan. 1136. Elder wood in the pocket keeps the thigh from chafing. Bay of Islands, N. F. I 37. "Furmity," made of elderberry pulp, worn in a little bag about the neck, will keep off rheumatism. Reading, Mass. 1138. A gall from the stem of a goldenrod (caused by the sting of Trypeta solidaginis or Galechia galli-solidaginis) is called a " rheumaty-bud." Each contains a small white grub, and it is believed that as long as the grub remains alive, the one who carries the gall in his pocket will be free from rheumatism. New Hampshire..... I00 Plant-Lore. II39. Carrying a hickory nut (Carya alba) in the pocket will prevent rheumatism. II40. A nutmeg, pierced and hung about the neck, will prevent boils, croup, and neuralgia. Maine. II4I. In a town fifteen miles from Boston, the teacher has advised the scholars to wear nutmegs about the neck to prevent coldsores. February, 1892. 1142. The two-year-old daughter of a member of the New Hampshire legislature wore a nutmeg night and day on a string about her neck as a cure for earache. Jackson, N. H., I893. 1I43. Rheumatism may be prevented by carrying a nutmeg in the pocket. Missouri. I44. Wear a nutmeg around your neck, and it will prevent styes. Alabama. rI45. A stolen potato, carried in the pocket, will cure rheumatism. Labrador and Bay of Islands, N. F. 1146. A potato, carried in the pocket, will cure or prevent rheumatism. Northern Ohio. 1147. A potato, perforated and worn on the finger like a ring, will cure rheumatism. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1148. A sliced and roasted potato, put in the left stocking turned inside out and worn about the neck, will cure sore throat. Bay of Islands, N. F. II49. A sore throat may be cured by wearing about the neck a stocking, in the toe of which a potato has been tied. New Hampshire. II50. Seeds of Job's tears (Coix lachryma), worn as a necklace, are thought to be good for children teething. Portland, Me., Peabody, Salem, Cambridge, and Boston, Mass., and Philadelphia, Pa. I51I. Seeds of Job's tears are thought to serve as a prophylactic against sore throat and diphtheria. They are supposed to absorb "humors." A string of them was shown to an apothecary, and the dark incrustation on them said by the mother who exhibited them to be the substance of the disease. Peabody, Mass.,..:::...: ~. Amulets, Charms, and Divinations. IOI 1152. A necklace made of "Job's tears" will cure goitre. Northern Ohio. 1153. Rheumatism may be prevented by carrying a walnut (Juglans nigra) in the pocket. Missouri. CHARMS. 1154. An apple pricked with pinholes and then put under the left arm is given to the person whose love one wishes to secure. Bay of Islands, N. F. II55. A man cured himself of fever and ague by tying himself (and it) to an ash-tree, and then crawling out and leaving the disease tied there. Ferrisburgh, Vt. I 56. Stir soap with a white ash stick to make it " come." Mattawamkeag, Me. I 157. A slice of mountain ash wood used in soap-making will make the soap hard. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1158. A slice of mountain ash is sometimes kept about to guard against witches and thieves. Bay of Islands, N. F. II59. If a child is beaten with a stick of mountain ash or of withe-rod (Viburnum cassinoides), its growth will be stopped. Exploits, N. F. I I6o. Mountain ash, growing in the garden, will keep crops from being bewitched. A "maiden tree " is best. Trinity Bay and Bay of Islands, N. F. I i6i. Populus tremuloides (called "aps," for aspen) is used in the treatment of rupture, as described below under Pyrus Americana. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1162. To make butter "come," put an odd number of beans into the churn. Woburn, Mass. 1163. To keep okra and butter beans bearing, burn up the ends of the pods and the hulls. Alabama. 1164. If cabbage plants are dying from worms in the root, putting one of them over the fire to dry will save the rest. Trinity Bay, Bay Roberts, and Conception Bay, N. F. I I65. A four-leaved clover will guard against witches. Bay of Islands, N. F. I 66. For rupture in a child, the latter must be passed nine times through a split dogwood-tree (Pyrus Americana). The operation * * *. ~. ~: *,0 '.,: ~ ~ 102 Plant-Lore. must be performed in the presence of the parents before sunrise on May ist. Sometimes it is said that a "maiden" dogwood must be chosen, a kind which grows alone and never blossoms. Conception Bay, Bay of Islands, etc., N. F. 1167. If one thus cured sits by the fire where dogwood is burning, he will feel great pain. Straits of Belle Isle, N. F. i68. In stirring soft soap, you must stir it with an elderberry stick, or it won't "come." Eastern Massachusetts. I 69. A blade of grass taken after sundown, worn three days, and then replaced, will cure toothache. St. John's, N. F. 1170. A blade of grass from a churchyard, taken when the sun is setting, with a prayer for the dead and an invocation "In the name of the Father," etc., will cure toothache. Bay of Islands, N. F. II7I. A blade of grass from a churchyard will relieve toothache. Battle Harbor, Lab. 1172. As a remedy for rheumatism, a galvanized iron nail is to be openly taken (not stolen or asked for). This is to be driven into the root of a red cedar-tree, taking pains not to crack the root. As the nail rusts, the rheumatism will disappear. Bay of Islands, N. F. I I73. Go into a lonely part of the woods with one of the opposite sex, who is to carry an axe. The bearer of the axe chops around the roots of a white oak, cuts off, with a large jackknife, nine splinters from the roots of the tree, then cuts around the roots of the aching tooth with the knife, dips each of the splinters in the blood that flows from these cuts, and finally buries the splinters at the foot of the tree from which they came. While doing this, the operator says over "something you don't understand," - undoubtedly a charm. Talladega, Ala. 1174. For chills and fever, take the skin from the inside of an egg-shell, go for three days in succession to a young persimmontree, and each day tie a knot in the skin. Talladega, Ala. 1175. Pinus Banksiana, the gray pine, is injurious to people, especially women. The ill effects are not removed by cutting down; the tree must be burnt. Vermont. I 76. A sprig of rosemary brings good luck and prevents witchcraft. Alabama. Amulets, Charms, and Divinations. I03 1177. Wheat straw laid on the floor will guard against witches. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1178. The plant called Solomon's Tears, held near the eye, will cause one to weep before night. To avert this, turn round once, then rub the plant on the back of the hand three times. St. John, NV B. II79. Biliousness may be cured by boring three holes in a carefully selected tree, and walking three times around it, saying, "Go away, bilious." Eastern Shore of Maryland. DIVINATIONS. II8o. Mountain ash, locally known as "dogwood," is used to make tillers of boats "for luck." Bay St. George, N. F. I81. A child takes a dandelion which has gone to seed and blows upon it three times. If all of the seeds blow away, it is a sign his mother does not want him; if some of the seeds remain, it is a sign his mother wants him. General in the United States. 1182. Blow the seed-heads of the dandelion to "tell the time;" the number left after blowing hard three times will indicate the hour; or blow as many times as may be necessary to blow all off; the number of times required indicates the hour. Southern States. 1183. A currant-wand is used as a divining rod. Cazenovia, N. Y. 1184. Forked branches of either peach or hazel are used as divining rods. Central States. II85. Forked maple and split whalebone are used as divining rods. Boothbay, Me. II86. The white thorn is used as a water finder. Canada. 1187. Cuscuta compacta, a common dodder, is known as "lovevine," probably because it is used in love divinations in the same way that apple parings are in other parts of the United States. Banner Elk, N. C. I 88. The orchid (Aplectrum hiemale.) locally known as "Adam and Eve " is used in love divination. Take the two little root-balls, name one for yourself, and the other for the one you love best, and put them in a pan of water. If the one named for yourself sinks, your case is hopeless; if it swims, you will be successful in love. Banner Elk, N. C. 104 Plant-Lore. II89. The common everlasting (Antennaria plantaginifolia) is called "love's test," and is used in love divinations. A leaf is taken by the ends, while the diviner thinks of some one of the opposite sex. The leaf is then pulled apart. If the down on its under side is drawn out long, much love is indicated. Or, both ends may be named, and the one whose end has the longer down is the more ardent lover. Indiana. I 90. When a person is leaving home for some time, take a piece of live-forever, stick it in the earth, and name it for the departed one. If he prosper, so will the plant; if he do not, it will wither or die. Chestertown, Md. 1191. If a girl puts a piece of southernwood down her back, she will marry the first boy whom she meets. Massachusetts. I I92. If a marriageable woman puts a bit of southernwood under the pillow on retiring, the first man whom she meets in the morning is the one whom she is to marry. Boston, Mass. 1193. If a girl tucks a bit of southernwood in her shoe, she will marry the first boy whom she meets. Hence the plant is called "boy's love." Woburn, Mass. 1194. Twist round each other two small trees which grow side by side. If they thrive twisted together, it indicates good luck; if not, bad luck. Newfoundland. II95. Pick a sprig of yarrow, put the stem up the nose, and say:Yarrow, yarrow, if he loves me and I loves he, A drop of blood I'd wish to see. If blood appears, it shows that the one who makes the divination is loved. Trout River, N. F. CHAPTER X. OMENS. I 96. It is bad luck to have the beefsteak geranium (Begonia sp.) in the house. Nova Scotia. 1197. It is unlucky to make birch brooms in May. "They will sweep the family away." Trinity Bay, N. F. I I98. Callas are unlucky to have in the house. St. John, N. B. II99. If a carrot or a cabbage goes to seed the first year, some one will die within the year. New Hampshire. 1200. Where a four-leaved clover is found, a mare has foaled. Labrador and Bay of Islands, N. F. I201. If a young man or woman finds a four-leaved clover, he or she will meet his or her sweetheart inside of four days, but no one must be told of the discovery. Newfoundlanda 1202. A four-leaved clover means good luck; a five-leaved clover means bad luck. Maine and Oneida, N. Y. 1203. A four-leaved clover is lucky to find or keep, but bad to give away. A five-leaved clover you must give away for luck; it is not well to keep one. Deerfield, Mass. I204. A five-leaved clover is unlucky, and should be avoided. Now and then the central leaflet of a clover is erect and cup-shaped or trumpet-shaped, and some peculiar powers are attributed to this, which is called the wine cup. Minneapolis, Minn. I205. It is unlucky to cut down a maiden dogberry-tree. An old man said: "I'd as lief cut off my right hand; a man is sure to die as does it." Newfoundland. 1206. Wish when you see the first wild flower in the spring. If you pluck it, your flowers will not do any good. Plymouth, Ohio. io6 Plant-Lore. I207. To find double fruit of any kind is a sign of a wedding. Maiden, Mass., and Bellville, Ohio. 1208. Fruit-trees blooming out of season betokens disaster, probably death. Northern Ohio. 1209. To fail to remove Christmas greens from the church before Candlemas Day is unlucky. Death will visit the household in whose pew (when the green is finally taken down) any twig or leaf may be left and found. 1210. "Rosy" is the name given to a solitary double flower appearing on an apple-tree after the proper flowering season is past; to pick it is a sign of death. Oxford Co., Me. 1211. Finding "innocence " in the spring betokens a new dress. Tennessee. 1212. Ivy, holly, and mistletoe, Make a good Christmas wherever they go. Portland, Me. 1213. Ivy is unlucky as a gift. Boston, Mass. 1214. A person who keeps ivy will always be poor. Maine. 1215. To keep "Wandering Jew" (Tradescantia crassifolia) means death in the family within the year. Newton, Mass. I216. Common tradescantia (T. crassifolia) is unlucky to take into the house; it will probably bring sickness. Allston, Mass. 1217. "Live-forever" (Sedum Telephium) growing about the house will bring poverty. Cambridge, Mass. 1218. To find a lilac blossom with five instead of four corolla lobes means good luck. 12I9. It is bad luck to have a Madeira vine growing around the house. Chestertown, Md. I220. Matrimony vine planted near a house and thriving means matrimonial ill luck. Cape Ann. I22I. Pinus Banksiana is called the unlucky tree because it is believed that misfortune will befall whoever stands under the tree. It is especially ominous to women. Adirondack Mountains, N. Y. Omens. 107 1222. An offensive toadstool (Phallus sp.) is called "death-baby." I have known of intelligent people rushing out in terror and beating down a colony of these as soon as they appeared in the yard. They are thought to foretell death. Salem, Mass. 1223. When the " bridal rose " blossoms, there will follow a death in the family. Massachusetts. 1224. It is bad luck to burn sassafras wood. Baltimore, Md. (negro). 1225. One must never burn sassafras wood; for if it cracks and sputters, it is a sign that some one present will die. Arkansas. a CHAPTER XI. WEATHER SIGNS. 1226. The outer bud-scales of trees are unusually thick before a severe winter. Biddeford, Me. 1227. The flower of the chickweed closes before wet weather. Labrador and New Harbor, N. F. 1228. When the corn husks are thick, the winter will be a severe one. General in the United States and among Indian tribes of New England. I229. Plant corn when the bobolinks first appear, when maple or beech leaves are as large as a mouse's ear, or when the birch buds start. Cazenovia, N. Y. 1230. Corn is planted when the Baltimore orioles appear; according to others, when the first green is noticed on the oak-trees. Milton, ~Mass. 1231. Sow corn when the oak leaves are the size of a squirrel's ear. American Indians. 1232. If the leaves of the cottonwood-tree are not in motion, it is a sign of an approaching tempest. Alabama. 1233. "Dogberries" (mountain ash) are especially plentiful before a severe winter. Labrador, New Harbor, N. F., and St. John, N. B. I234. There is a rain at the time of the dogwood (Cornus florida) blooming, hence called "dogwood rain," and another when blackberries are getting ripe, hence called "blackberry rain." Chestertown, Md. 1235. Kelp covered with ice rising to the top of the water is thought to be a sure sign of mild weather coming, even if the thermometer is ten degrees below zero. Labrador. I236. When clover leaves fold up, it is a sign of rain in the next five hours. Alabama. Weather Signs. I09 1237. When the leaves of trees show the under sides, it is a sign of rain. General in the United States. 1238. When poplar leaves show the white under surface, it is a sign of rain. Maine. 1239. The scarlet pimpernel closes before rain, hence called " poor man's weather glass." General in the United States. 1240. When the sow-thistle droops its blossoms, it is a sign of rain. Alabama. I241. Trees and woods smelling means wet weather. Scilly Cove, N. F. 1242. When the woods look dark in winter, it foretells rain and mild weather. Labrador and New Harbor, N. F. CHAPTER XII. FOLK-MEDICINE. 1243. Alder buds are boiled and the infusion drunk for the itch. Newfoundland. 1244. Water in which alder buds have been steeped is drunk as a cure for rheumatism. Newfoundland. I245. Alder bark and suet make a good salve for burns, etc. Miramichi, N. B. 1246. Andromeda polifolia is used as a remedy for asthma. Trinity Bay, N. F. 1247. The inside bark of the birch is used as a remedy for frostbites. The part away from the tree is healing, and the part next the tree has "drawing" power. Newfoundland. 1248. For frostbites apply the inner bark of the birch and cod oil. Bay of Islands, N. F. I249. Brunella vulgaris is called heart's-ease because it is thought to cure diseases of the heart. Cambridge, Mass. 1250. Buckeyes and horse-chestnuts are thought to be poisonous. New England and Ohio. I25 I. In cases of fever, burdock leaves are bound upon the wrists and ankles with the points down, so that the fever may run out at the points. Freeport, Me. 1252. Young shoots of butternut are boiled to make a cathartic drink. Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri. 1253. Butternut bark, scraped up, acts as an emetic; if scraped down, as a cathartic. Ferrisburgh, Vt. 1254. Cabbage leaves are used as a dressing for blisters. General in the United States. 1255. A decoction of cherry bark in water is used as a tonic. Newfoundland. Folk-Medicine. I I I 1256. Chickweed (Stellaria media) is used to make poultices for boils. Newfoundland. 1257. An infusion made of clover (Trifolium pratense?) is much used for bathing, and is thought to cure most skin diseases. Newfoundland. 1258. Ears of Indian corn are boiled, and while boiling hot are packed about the patient to give him "a sweat." Fever, inflammation, toothache, and various other ailments are thus treated. Northern Ohio. 1259. The inner bark of the elder, boiled until a tar-like decoction is obtained from it, is used for plasters. Elder blossoms are used for inflammations. Newfoundland. 1260. "Elder-blow tea" is used as a febrifuge, laxative, and diuretic. Somewhat general in the United States. 1261. The bark of elder, scraped up and a tea made of it, is an emetic; scraped down, a cathartic. Plymouth, Ohio. 1262. Red elderberries make bitters. Miramichi, N. B. 1263. Tea made of the leaves and blossoms of "everlasting" (Gnaphalium polycephalum) is taken for colds and other mild diseases. Northern Ohio. 1264. The inside bark of the fir is beaten up to form a poultice for boils. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1265. Fir-tops are steeped or boiled, and the sweetened liquid drunk as a remedy for scurvy. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1266. The "balsam " from the fir is used for chapped hands. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1267. Tea made by steeping sweet flag roots is given as a cure for diarrhoea. Northern Ohio. 1268. The roots of gold-thread (Coptis trifolia) are steeped in water to form a wash for use in "thrush" of children. Mansfield, Ohio. I269. The leaves of the Habenaria orbiculata are applied for lameness or soreness; e. g. a farmer has recently been known to use them on the legs of a lame colt. Barre, Vt. 12 Plant-Lore. 1270. Heal-all (Brunella vulgaris) is said to be useful as a remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery. Mansfield, Ohio. 1271. Heracleum lanatum rubbed and smelled is used as a cure for seasickness. Conception Bay, N. F. I272. Heracleum lanatum is used to keep off fevers and infection generally. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1273. The Heracleum lanatum, called "hell-trot" (perhaps a corruption of hemlock), is used as a cure for sore throat. A wash for this purpose is prepared from the roots. Bay of Islands, N. F. I274. Horseradish leaves are applied to the cheek as a mild blister for toothache. Northern Ohio. 1275. House-leeks cure corns. Vermont. 1276. The corm of the Indian turnip, dried, grated, and mixed with molasses, is given to children for worms. Mansfield, Ohio. 1277. The juice of the Jamestown weed (Datura) in the eye will cause it to change color. Hamilton Co., Ohio. 1278. "Jimpson-weed" (Datura Stramonium) leaves and young shoots stewed in lard make an ointment that is rubbed on the fetlocks of horses for "scratches." Ohio and Illinois. I279. Eupatorium purpureum, the Joe-pye-weed, is called "gravelroot," and is evidently thought to be a remedy for calculi. West Virginia. 1280. E. perfoliatum, thoroughwort, is made into a tea much used as a sudorific. New England and Central United States. 1281. Juniperus communis steeped forms a remedy for colds and colic. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1282. The bark of Juniperus communis is made into a poultice for sores. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1283. Kalmia, boiled with tobacco, forms a remedy for mange. Labrador. 1284. Cabbage kelp (Laminaria) is used as an application for a lame back. Newfoundland. Folk-M~edicinie. I I3 1285. Ledum latifolium, Labrador tea, is used to make tea, used as a beverage, and also for disorders of the stomach. White Bay, N. F. 1286. Any three leaves (of different kinds) will cure the sting of a wasp or a bee. Northern Ohio. I287. Chew together three leaves from three different kinds of trees, and put the pulp on a bee-sting to cure the inflammation. Barre, Vt. 1288. Picking the teeth with a splinter from a tree struck by lightning will prevent toothache. Nashua, N. HI289. A toothpick made from a tree struck by lightning will kill the nerve of a tooth and so cure toothache. Baltimore, Md. I290. If you clean your teeth with the thin inner bark of a tree that has been struck by lightning, it will prevent toothache. 129I. Linnca borealis is used as a remedy for coughs. Trinity Bay, N. F. I292. Streptopus amplexifolius and Streptopus roseus are called "liver-berries" from their reputed medicinal value. St. Francis, Me. 1293. If ducks eat locust blossoms, they will be poisoned and die. Chestertown, Md. 1294. A love potion, made of a certain number of red and white rose leaves and forget-me-nots, boiled in 385 drops of water for the sixteenth part of an hour, will, if properly made, insure the love of one of the opposite sex, if three drops of the mixture are put into something the person is to drink. Alabama. 1295. If you want a person to love you who does not like you, make a drink of the little stout roots of lady's tresses (Spiranthes) and give it to her, and she will immediately like you. Nova Scotia. I296. Lycopodium lucidulum is used as a remedy for spitting blood. Trinity Bay, N. F. 1297. All milky-juiced plants are not poisonous, and are safe to eat. Miramichi, N. B. I298. A mullein leaf is good for a parrot's bite. Brookline, Mass. II4 Plant-Lore. I299. Mullein leaves, applied with friction to the skin, are supposed to produce a fine complexion. Massachusetts. 1300. A salve made by steeping mullein blossoms with lard is used to cure an eruption on the skin. New Durham, N. H. 1301. Hot onion poultices are applied for a cold in the chest, or croup. The juice of roasted onions is administered internally for the same diseases. General in the United States. 1302. The heart of a roasted onion, put into the ear, will cure earache. Boston, Mass. I303. Poultices of beans, or of rye-meal, or of onions baked or boiled in milk, have wonderful "drawing " and healing virtues. Maine and Chelsea, Mass. I304. Onion poultices are applied to the wrists and ankles for colds. Bustin's Island, Me. I305. Hang a row of onions over your door, and they will absorb all diseases (diphtheria, etc.) from any one who comes in. One must not eat the onions. Cambridge, Mass. I306. The common parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is believed to be poisonous when growing wild. General in the United States. I307. Peanuts will cure seasickness. Newton, Mass. 1308. For ague, swallow a whole peppercorn daily for seven successive mornings. Central Missouri. 1309. Plantain leaves "wilted " or bruised are applied to any kind of sore, or "to draw out poison." Mansfield, Ohio. I3I0. Freshly plucked plantain leaves are applied to bee-stings. Somewhat general in the United States. 1311. Pumpkin seed or watermelon seed teas are used as diuretics. General in the United States. 1312. Saffron tea is used as a mouth wash in cases of "thrush," and'as a drink to cure measles in young children. General in the United States. I313. Sassafras tea, made by steeping the bark (scraped or sliced) of the roots of the sassafras-tree, is much used by the country peo Folk-Medicine. 115 pie as a healthful spring drink. It is believed to purify the blood and to have tonic effects. Somewhat general in the United States. I314. The white pith from sassafras twigs, soaked in cold water, makes a mucilaginous liquid, which is used as a cooling lotion for inflamed eyes. Mansfield, Ohio, and Peoria, Ill. 1315. A common smartweed (Polygonum Persicaria) with heartshaped markings on the leaves is called heart's-ease, and is supposed to be useful in diseases of the heart. Mansfield, Ohio. 1316. A smartweed poultice is applied for internal inflammation. Chicago, Ill. (colored woman). 1317. Lycopus sinuatus is called rattlesnake-weed from its supposed value as an antidote to snake-bites. Missouri and Southwestern United States. 1318. Artemisia abrotanum, the southernwood, is called "boy's love," "lad's love," etc., in the Northeastern and Central States, probably from a general belief in its aphrodisiac qualities. New England to Illinois. I319. Green spruce buds will cure toothache. Newfoundland. 1320. Black spruce buds steeped make a wash to cure the "thrush." Bay of Islands, N. F. 1321. Tansy flowers are used to make poultices and to bathe sprains. They also form a remedy for (inflammation of?) the lungs. Newfoundland. 1322. "Tansy tea is good for worms." Batavia, III. I323. A poultice made by moistening bruised tansy with vinegar will take the soreness out of a dog-bite or other bruise or wound. Mansfield, Ohio. 1324. The great purple trillium is sometimes called "nosebleed," and is not to be kicked for fear of producing nosebleed. Vermont. 1325. Oil of turpentine, mixed with brown sugar, is used as a remedy for worms. Northern Ohio. 1326. Cypripedium acaule, the stemless lady's-slipper, is called valerian from its supposed efficacy in nervous disorders. Franconia, N. H., Vermont, and New York. 1327. The large lady's-slipper is often called "nerve-root" on account of its use as a nerve tonic. Western Massachusetts. i i6 Plant-Lore. 1328. A common vervain (Verbena stricta) is popularly known as "fever-weed" from its supposed efficacy as a remedy for fever and ague. Central Illinois. 1329. The bark of the withe-rod (Viburnum cassinoides) is much used for "drawing-plasters." Newfoundland. i330. "Worm-dust," made by larvae in hard wood, is used when babies are chafed. Northern Ohio. CHAPTER XIII. VARIOUS. 1331. Mosquitoes come from young alder buds. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1332. Alder boughs, cut and planted during the increase of the moon, will grow; during the waning, will fail. So with planting other trees. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1333. If material for fences is cut at the increase of the moon, it will last longer. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1334. Apple twigs planted upside down will bear apples without cores. Maine. 1335. The aspen tree's leaves shake since the time of the crucifixion, as this tree was near Mt. Calvary. Northern Ohio. 1336. A snake will not crawl over ashwood. Southern Ohio and Massachusetts. 1337. If a snake tries to climb a beech-tree, he is killed as soon as he touches the bark. Sunderland, Mass. 1338. A worm is in the blossom end of a banana. Eastern Massachusetts. 1339. A banana, cut transversely, shows the sign of the cross. General in the United States. 1340. The time of the starting of the buds upon the trees is a dangerous time to the very sick, the very feeble, and the very old. Somewhat general in the United States. 1341. If a child swallow cherry or plum stones, trees will grow in its stomach. Eastern Massachusetts and Michigan. 1342. Chess or cheat (Bromus secalinus) is quite commonly supposed to be a degenerated form of wheat. As the farmers phrase it, "Wheat turns into cheat." New England, Northern and Central States. 1343. Anthemis cotula is called " chigger-weed" because it is supposed to harbor chiggers. Indiana. II8 Plant-Lore. I344. Asclepias tuberosa, the butterfly milkweed, is called "chigger flower," from the belief that the insects known as chiggers harbor in it. Southwestern Missouri. I345. A tree of Salix discolor is called the Holy Thorn of Christmas. It is said to blossom out at "Old Christmas," and then the flowers "go in again." New Harbor, Trinity Bay, N. F. 1346. A small prickly, leguminous plant (perhaps Medicago maculata) with reddish-brown spots on its leaflets was said to have been used to make the crown of thorns and to be marked with the blood of Christ. Mansfield, Ohio. I347. Clematis brings moths. Western Massachusetts. 1348. You must not swallow cork, or it will swell up and kill you. Portsmouth, N H. I349. Cut a cucumber about an inch from the stem end, and another will grow in its place at once. This is called "growing out of the bitter end." Vermont. 1350. Pointing at a daffodil will keep it from blooming. Gorham, Me. I351. Cornus stolonifera, the red osier dogwood, is called "squawbush." Its bark is said to have been smoked by the Indians. Penobscot Co., Me. I352. Elder leaves, also clover, are supposed to keep flies out of a house. Province of Quebec, Can. I353. Elderberry bushes, growing near a drain, will keep off emmets. Peabody, Mass. I354. Ferns are popularly known as "snake-weeds," because snakes are supposed to harbor among them. Tennessee. 1355. Pteris aquilina, the bracken fern, is called "poor man's soap, because its root stocks will make a lather with water. Alabama. 1356. Common confervaceae (Spirogyra, Zygnema, and similar forms) are often supposed to be "frog-spit." General in the United States. I357. Snakes will not go where geraniums (Pelargoniums) grow. Peabody, Mass. I358. Geraniums growing in an open window will prevent flies from entering the room. Salem, Mass. Various. II9 1359. Botrychium Virginianum is called "indicator," because its presence is thought to show that ginseng is growing near it. Jackson, West Va. I360. Equisetum hiemale is called "gunbright," and is said to have been used by the Indians in polishing their guns. Penobscot Co., Me. 136I. The very tip of a hemlock, if the tree be perfect, always points to the north. New England. I362. Hop-vines peep out of the ground at midnight for a few minutes at " Old Christmas." Chestertown, Md. I363. Lithospermum canescens is called "Indian paint," because the Indians are said to have used it in painting themselves. Southwestern Missouri. 1364. Gathering innocence (Houstonia cerulea) will make you wet the bed. New England. 1365. The branches of the "juniper" (larch, Larix Americana) always point toward the east, i. e. toward Christ on the cross, so it guides travellers in the woods. Bay of Islands, N. F. 1366. There is always water under a "juniper-tree" (Larix Americana). Bay of Islands, N. F. 1367. Bears and wolves dislike the Larix Americana, so its branches are stuck about deposits of venison to guard them from being plundered. Newfoundland. 1368. Common live-forever (Sedum Telephium) is said to bloom only once in seven years. Ohio. I369. Rich earth in three years converts hard maple trees into soft maple trees. Biddeford, Me. I370. If you point at a green watermelon, it will fall off the vines. Alabama. 1371. "Caper-tree," or "mole-tree" (Euphorbia Lathyris) is supposed to keep moles out of flower-beds if planted there. Northern Ohio. 1372. Nutmegs are hollow if grated from the stem end. Northern Ohio. I373. Axe-handles of oak are colder to handle than those of hickory. Vermont. 120 Plant-Lore. 1374. To have success in raising red pepper, get a high-tempered person to plant it. Alabama. 1375. A miniature facsimile of a tree is seen in the meat of a persimmon seed. Chestertown, Md. 1376. If a girl eats nine green persimmons, she will turn to a boy in less than two weeks. Alabama. 1377. Abutilon Avicennea is called " butter-print," "pie-print," and " pie-marker," because its pods are used to stamp butter or pie-crust. Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. 1378. Any plant " thought of too much" will not thrive. Bay of Islands, NV. F. 1379. An intelligent lady told of a certain marsh plant that was a plant in the earlier part of its existence and a snake afterwards. Morristown, Vt. 1380. Don't let the powder of a puff-ball get into your eyes, or you will go blind. Dorchester, Ontario, St. John, N. B., Ohio, and Oneida, Ill. 1381. Puff-ball dust will give you the itch. Patten, Me. 1382. Puff-balls are thought to be poisonous to the touch (e. g. if stepped on with bare feet). Northern Illinois. 1383. The fungus common on Rhododendron nudiflorum is called honeysuckle apples, and is eaten by children, and thought to be a fruit. Boxford, Mass. 1384. Sage, tansy, or black-walnut leaves will keep away ants. Northern Ohio. 1385. All kinds of fruits and vegetables are found in the sea that there are on land, e. g. sea cucumber, sea melon, etc. Provincetown, Mass. 1386. The dark spot on the leaf of the smartweed was caused by a drop of the Saviour's blood. Michigan. 1387. If you eat " cow serl " (Rumex Acetosella), it will make your head lousy. Bathurst, N. B. 1388. The sap in the sugar trees will stop running when the frogs begin to peep in the spring. Jaffrey, N. H. Various. 12 1389. Eating tea-grounds will make you black. Northern Ohio. I390. Smelling tiger-lilies causes freckles. Maine. I391. Looking into a tiger-lily causes freckles. Oneida, Ill. I392. If you smell of the wild red lilies called "horse-lilies," which grow in fields and pastures, you will have freckles. Marlboro, N. H. I393. Timothy grass flowers three times, and it is best to cut it during the third blooming. Newfoundland. 1394. Toad-stools are made by toads. A somewhat general saying among children in the United States. 1395. Walnut leaves (Juglans nigra) will keep away house-flies. Mansfield, Ohio. 1396. Wood from the side of a tree next the water is brittle; that from the landward side, elastic. Bay of Islands, N. F. I397. Burn wood, and the flames will form themselves into the shapes of the leaves of the tree from which the wood came. Massachusetts. I NOTES. I NOTES. CHAPTER I. 5. This same bone is used as an amulet in County Kerry, Ireland. A similar bone (an otolith), found in the head of white perch in the Ohio River, is carried as a lucky bone. In Staffordshire, England, the lucky bone is the larger portion of a broken merrythought or wishbone of a chicken. I7. The small egg often dropped by a hen, usually near the end of her laying season, is commonly known as a " luck egg." It is counted a good omen to possess it, and a child often keeps one for years as a mascot. (Northern Ohio.) The little egg sometimes found in a nest is counted very unlucky, especially if no yolk is in it. If there is a yolk, it is not so bad. It is often found before a death or sudden bad news. (County Armagh, Ireland.) After laying ninety-nine eggs, hens lay a hundredth very small one, called "cent " egg, or cock egg. It is smaller than a pigeon's egg, and contains no yolk. If it could be hatched, it would produce a cockatrice. (Derbyshire, England.) - Jones's Credulities, London, I88o, p. 462. Cocks, when exhausted with old age, in summer, and at the time of the rising of the dog-star, lay a perfectly spherical egg of a yellowish white color, from which is produced the basilisk, a poisonous beast of a foot and a half length, with a triple crest and sparkling eyes, which inflict disease (or death?) by their glance. - Levinus Lemnius, De Occultis latura? Miraculis, iii. 402. 23. For the rabbit foot as a charm, see Nights with Uncle Remus, Boston, I889, pp. I69I-80. A hare's foot hung over the door (inside the door generally) will bring good luck and avert evil. No one can then do you an injury. (Isle of Jersey.) " The rabbit's foot is esteemed a powerful talisman to bring good fortune to the wearer and protect him from all danger. As this belief is more or less common throughout the South, it may be well to state how the charm is prepared, for the benefit of those who wish to be put on the royal road to health, wealth, and prosperity. It must be the left hindfoot of a graveyard rabbit, i. e. one caught in a graveyard, although one captured under the gallows would probably answer as well. It must be taken at the midnight hour, the foot amputated, and the rabbit released, if not killed in the capture. The foot must then be carried secretly in the pocket, until by chance the owner happens upon a hollow stump in which water has collected from recent rains. The foot is then dipped (three times?) into this water, and the charm is complete. Among the negroes and the uneducated whites of the South the reputed possessor of this potent talisman is at once feared and respected. The phenomenal success of General Fitzhugh Lee of Virginia, in his gubernatorial race, was attributed by the negroes to the fact that he carried a rabbit's foot and a bottle of stump water. A rabbit's foot was also sent to President Cleveland, together with other fetiches, by a Texas admirer, at the outset of his administration." "An account of a late execution in Georgia, taken from the Atlanta Constitu 126 Notes. lion of date about February 8, 1889, begins thus: 'A man hanging in mid-air, writhing in the agonies of death, 3,000 people scattered over the hillsides and safely ensconced in the tops of trees, a thousand men and boys chasing a rabbit scared nearly to death, yelling, laughing, screeching as they run, is a picture few people ever see. And yet it was one presented in Cobb County to-day.' The rabbit had been scared out from a bush just as the drop fell. It was finally captured, and Judge Winn offered the boy five dollars for one of the feet, but the offer was declined."-James Mooney, "Folk-Lore of the Carolina Mountains," Journal of American Folk-Lore, ii. No. 5. 32. See Brand's Popular Antiquities, London, 1849, iii. 223. 43. Scot quotes James Sprenger and Henrie Institor to the effect that " serpents and snakes and their skins exceed all other creatures for witchcraft: in so much as witches doo use to burie them under mens thresholds either of the house or stable whereby barrenness is procured both to woman and beast." -Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584. Facsimile reprint, London, 1886, p. 207. 45. A toad-bone philter, similar to that known in the United States, is also used by peasant girls in Sweden. - See, also, Dr. Adolf Wuttke, Der Deutsche Volksaberglaube der Gegenwart, Berlin, I869, p. 112. Stick nine pins in a live frog; immerse it in oil of vitriol, and bury -as a love charm. A lover, desiring to " break off, felt hunheasy, wantin' to go and not to go," etc. At last he went. He afterwards learned of the charm and "broke hoff." (Staffordshire, England.) In the Bohmerwald, it is believed that if one scratches a girl's hand until it bleeds, with the paw of a tree-frog caught on St. Luke's Day, she will be impelled to frantic love for him. - G. Lammert, Volksmedizin u. medizinischer Aberglaube in Bayern, Wiirzburg, I869, p. I52. Scot, among other philters, mentions: " The bone of a greene frog, the flesh thereof being consumed with pismers or ants; the left bone whereof ingendereth (as they saie) love; the bone on the right side, hate. Also it is said that a frogs bones, the flesh being eaten off round about with ants, whereof some will swim and some will sinke: those that sinke being hanged up in a white linnen cloth, ingender love, but if a man be touched therewith, hate is bred thereby." - Op. cit., p. 98. On the magical nature of toads, see De Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology, London, I872, ii. 379-384. In Scotland, a woman was said to be cured of rupture of the bladder by wearing a little bag around her neck containing the powder made from a toad burned alive in a new pot. -Napier, Folk-Lore; or, Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland, Paisley, I879, p. 94. 48. It is said that a fortune-teller doctor can tell you what to do for the grounddogs. (Chestertown, Md., negro.) 49. A negro girl of eighteen or nineteen apparently went insane, after refusing an offer of marriage from a negro man. A physician was called, but could do nothing for her. The girl was then sent to the city hospital and got no better. Treated as an insane patient, her symptoms were not relieved. Finally the hospital physicians decided that she must be sent to an insane asylum. The girl's sister would not let her go. Word was sent to a well sister by a woman voodoo doctor to say that she could cure the sick sister for twenty dollars. The employer of the girl finally agreed to pay the twenty dollars and did so. The voodoo doctor treated the girl for about a week, gave her medicine, and she got well. (Charleston, S. C., recent.) For further illustrations of the nature of the voodoo superstitions, see Voodoo Tales, by Mary Alicia Owen, New York, 1893. Also periodical articles as fol Notes. I27 lows: Saturday Review, lix. 408; Popular Science Monthly, xxxviii. 651; Atlantic Monthly, lxiv. 376; Journal of American Folk-Lore, i. i6, ii. 41, 232. 52. A hard old master came back every night to his former plantation and caused a disturbance by his cries and moans. Preachers and others were called to lay him. A colored man who could speak to ghosts was called, and laid him in a small closet upstairs. A child was afterwards killed and torn to pieces upon opening the closet. This ghost seems to have successfully resisted the efforts of several clergymen (one of them a Catholic) to lay him by reading the Bible and saying prayers while they sat around him in a circle. He would not be laid in the fireplace, even by the negro ghost-layer. (Chestertown, Md., negro.) A similar process to that employed by Maryland negroes for laying ghosts is used in County Cork, Ireland, for the same purpose. On the efficacy of saying prayers backward for supernatural purposes, see Napier, op. cit., pp. 133, 134. Witches are said to conjure any one by repeating the Lord's Prayer backwards. (Alabama.) 53. Sea 'monsters of a demon nature can be killed only by a silver coin or a bullet of silver, which they cannot resist. - J6n Arnason, Icelandic Legends, second series, London, I866, Introductory Essay, p. Ix. Similar uses of the silver bullet are common in European demonology and ghost-lore. 58. It is considered unfortunate not to have some vessel of drinking water left about the house. It is customary to leave a cup or glass of water on the table, etc., for the fairies. (Imported into this country.) (County Cork, Ireland.) An aged mulatto woman in Chestertown, Md., in speaking of the desirability of having a supply of water in the house before retiring for the night, gave me the following incident from her own experience: " One night I wuz mighty tired, and it wuz a powahful cold night, 'n' so, as the spring wher we got all our water wuz a good bit 'v a piece fum the house, I thought I would n' go fer fresh water. My ole man wuz gone ter bed, 'n' the chil'n wuz all gone ter bed, so I jes' kivered up the fire, 'n' no mo' had I laid myself down to sleep than I heard a great thump. I raised up, 'n' what did I see but the tub I kep' the water in a settin' on the flo'. This little tub alluz stood on a low shelf in one corner 'v the room. Thar it wuz now, right out in the middle 'v the flo'. I got up, scared as I wuz, 'n' lifted the tub, 'n' put it back whar it belonged. I see there wuz n't a bit of water left in it, only ice-rims all round the top, fer 't wuz a mighty cold time. I pushed the tub fur back on the shelf, but in a few minutes I heard it jes' banged down on the flo'. Ye could n' see anybuddy, but somebuddy lifted that tub 'n' carr'd it a piece fum its place 'n' put it down on the flo' 's if they wuz mad. I tell ye I wuz mighty scared! Bime-by I could n' stan' it no longer, 'n' I jus' bundled up and wakened one of my little boys, 'n' we went ter the spring 'n' filled that tub with water. Then we went to bed, 'n' all wuz peaceable tell mornin. " 59. A New England correspondent writes me: " A man of sixty years told me in all seriousness yesterday (July I, i89i), that when he was a man of twentyfive a great witch lived near by. One morning the butter would not come, and, thinking the cream bewitched, he heated a horseshoe red-hot and threw it into the cream. On churning again, the butter immediately came. The next day he saw a burn of the exact shape and size of his horseshoe on the witch's arm. This proved to him that she bewitched his cream." 61. To cure a sty, go to a well with a bamboo sieve and say to the water spirit in the well, "Take away my sty and I'11 show you the rest." Then, if the sty goes away, show the whole sieve to the well. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) Perform a divination by turning a sifter as follows: Place two chairs back to 128 Notes. back, and balance the sifter between, resting only on the edges, so lightly that the slightest jar would overturn it. The diviner, preferably a man of good standing in the church, stands a little way off, raises his hand, and chants slowly: — By Saint Peter, by Saint Paul, By the Lord who made us all, If John Doe did thus and so, Turn, sifter, turn and fall. If the accused is innocent, the sifter remains motionless; if he is an accomplice, the sifter trembles; and if he is guilty, it falls. On the Guinea coast the same mode is used, only with a rawhide shield on two upright spears. -" Negro Superstitions," Lippincott's Magazine, December, I89I. It is a common belief among negroes that all women, after reaching a very advanced age, become witches. (Chestertown, Md.) 62. The same colored woman referred to in Note 58 told me that she had more than once been ridden by a witch. She said that utter weariness followed such a terrible experience. The approach of the witch, and her mounting on the breast of the sleeper, was said to have been heralded by a noise like the whirr of a large spinning-wheel. The narrator said that when she awakened she could feel the dreadful weight of the witch upon her chest, but could see nothing, although a light was burning in the room. 63. See, also, Chapter VI. 64. There is a spirit in the little whirls of dust, hence called by a Gaelic name signifying spirit. (County Cork, Ireland.) Funeral trains are often met by a whirlwind, when the latter turns and precedes the corpse to the graveyard, where it rages about, hurling dust, etc. (County Cork, Ireland, also Athlone.) The notion of fairies, spirits, etc., in little whirlwinds, is similar to the classical idea that the harpies came in a gust of wind. 65. See the author's article, "Some Saliva Charms," Journal of American Folk-Lore, iii. 56, 57. 70. So, too, in the Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan, where a common adage is, " Spit on the palm and be prepared." Roman pugilists thought they could strike a heavier blow by first spitting in the fist. - Pliny's Natural History, lib. xxviii. cap. vii. But in the same connection Pliny says that spitting into the palm of the hand that has struck a blow will remove all feelings of resentment in the person who was struck. 72. Boys in western Scotland bind one another to a bargain or promise by a sort of oath: Chaps ye, chaps ye, Double, double daps ye. Fire above, fire below, Fire on every side o' ye. After saying this, the boy spits three times over his head (?) to bind the oath. If then he fails to keep it, he is cast out of the society of his mates. The Highlanders wet the balls of their thumbs with saliva and press them together in binding a bargain. Boys in western Scotland, more than fifty years ago, confirmed agreements by spitting on the ground. - Napier, op. cit., p. IOI. 74. This custom is also common in Japan and in central Sweden. Frank Buckland says that Portsmouth (England) fishermen spit on the boat Notes. 129 anchor before letting it go, to make the fish bite. - Curiosities of Natural History, third series. 76. In passing a partially decayed dead animal, or other very repulsive object, a leper, or other such diseased person, spit on the ground (or on the object) to avoid contagion or ill effects. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) From the same locality comes the direction to do away with danger of infection from evil odors by moistening the tip of the nose with saliva. The Aztecs had a superstition that a man who had seen a polecat should not spit, lest his hair turn gray.- See Sahagun in Kingsborough, Mexican Antiquities, vii. I65. 77. "The Morning Herald of Friday, August I6, 1839, affords an evidence of the belief in the fascination of witches still occasionally existing in London, as in the instance of two lodgers, one of whom squinted, and the other, to avert the supposed consequences from the defect of the first, considered she could only protect herself by spitting in her face three times a day."- Brand's Popular Antiquities, London, 1873, iii. 50. Somewhat similar practices are still found in Great Britain, in the Isle of Jersey, and in Russia. To guard against the Evil Eye, nurses in charge of children spit three times upon the ground on noticing the approach of a stranger. - Pliny, Natural History, Bohn's ed., lib. xxviii. cap. vii. "In some parts of France, the peasants spit in the hand when in terror of the spectres at night." (Footnote to the above.) 84. Sparks spitting out of the fire show that some one holds spite against you. The antidote is to spit into the fire. (Isle of Jersey.) It is unlucky to spit into the fire.- Napier, op. cit., p. 37. 9I. Spit on the palm and strike the drop of spittle, at the same time repeating an incantation. The direction taken by the drops of flying spittle shows the direction of a lost object. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) This practice is also found in the Island of Inaqua, Bahama Islands. 98. Grimm shows that the Aesir and Vanir made peace, and in token thereof spat into a common receptacle. - See Stallybrass's Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, London, 1882, iii. 902. 99. An old lady recalls this custom as prevalent in western Pennsylvania and Virginia during the early part of the present century. Ioo. It naturally happens, from the Japanese national custom of sitting with the feet doubled under on a mat, that one or both legs will become numb. A Japanese scientist has kindly communicated to me the following particulars in regard to the saliva cures for this numbness: - " In the province of Suwo (southwest part of the main island of Japan) a person picks up a piece of straw, wets it with saliva, and then sticks the same on the middle part of his forehead. The piece is left there till it naturally comes off. In Tokio, after a piece of straw is placed on the forehead, as in the above process, a person wets his index finger, with which he first touches the tip of his nose, and then he rapidly moves his finger up toward the forehead (without touching the latter or the straw). This is repeated three times, accompanied by a saying, ' Shibire Kyo ye agare,' which is, of course, also repeated the same number of times. The phrase means literally, 'Numbness, go up to Kyo.' Kyo is an abbreviation for Kyoto, where our emperors used to live for many centuries till I868, and which was then the recognized centre of Japan. People always spoke of going up to 'Kyoto.' I do not know the origin of the phrase addressed to the numbness, neither do I know its true significance; but one which strikes me as very probable is, that it was meant to entice numbness out of the lower members 130 Notes. of the body, as every one was right glad to obey such a command at any time. In the province of Echigo (northwest part of the main island of Japan) I heard that straw is not used, but a cross is drawn on the forehead with a finger wet with saliva." - From the author's "Aninal and Plant Lore, IV.," Popular Science Monthiy, xxxix. 375. 125. The same practice is recommended by the peasants of W6rmland, Sweden. In Shropshire, England, and among Gaetan (Italian) peasants, it is customary to cross the foot for the same purpose. Pliny, op. cit., lib. xxviii. cap. vii., recommends the application of saliva to the hamstring for crick in the neck. CHAPTER II. 125. The same belief is current in the Bahamas. (Harbour Island.) The caul is generally supposed to be a protection against drowning or to foretell by its appearance the fortunes of the child. See William Jones, Credulities Past and Present, London, I88o, pp. I II-I 13. Also Levinus Lemnius, De Occultis Naturce Miraculis, cap. viii. De infantium recens natorum galeis, seu tenui, mollique membrana, qua facies tanquam larva, aut p5ersonato tegmine obducta, ad primum lucis intuitum se spectandam exhibet, Helm vulgo vocant. The best method for seeing ghosts forms a frequent topic of conversation among Southern negroes. One who has the power of seeing ghosts can temporarily enable another person to do so. The latter must place himself behind the regular ghost-seer and look under his upraised right arm. (Eastern Shore of Maryland, negro.) Ghost-seers can make any one see a ghost by having the experimenter cross his legs, face the seer, and look over the latter's left shoulder. (Chestertown, Md., negro.) Ghosts can be seen by looking very steadily past the edge of a door-casing or anything of the sort, holding the head so that you can just see past the edge. (Chestertown, Md., negro.) It is believed in Iceland that any one who stands under the upraised left arm of a clairvoyant can see whatever he desires to. If he step forward from under the arm, he will obtain the gift of second sight; if he step backward he will not. (Communicated by Mrs. Holm, an Icelandic lady.) " A man became ' fresker,' i. e. capable of seeing a concealed trollman, by looking under another's arm, placed akimbo on the left side." -Thorpe, Benjamin, Northern Mythology, i. 217, London, I85I. In County Roscommon, Ireland, it is said that any one can see fairies by looking over the right shoulder of one who has the gift of seeing them. In Scotland it was held that if a seer, while having a vision, consciously touched a person with his left foot, the one touched would also see the same vision.Napier, op. cit., p. 72. Old Mr. Zedaker, of Mansfield, Ohio, who believed in ghosts, witches, visions, etc., thirty or forty years ago gave this formula for discovering a witch:" Take an egg that was laid on Good Friday, put it in your pocket, and go into a congregation of people, and you can see them, some with horns on their heads, some with cloven feet, and all manner of shapes working witchcraft." The appearance, mode of progression, and other characteristics of ghosts form a most engrossing topic of conversation among Southern negroes. The following statements were all obtained from supposed eye-witnesses of the occurrences or from those who got their information from the actual ghost-seers at Chestertown, Md.:Will (a young negro man), coming out from town, saw a woman (colored) who Notes. '3' had died some years since. The spirit went ahead of him and suddenly changed to the form of a dog with red eyes "like chunks of fire." This ghost-woman changed to a ghost-dog to scare Will, because she did n't like to be stared at. A spirit in the form of a black dog rattling a chain goes every night from a certain drug-store to the edge of the town at about twelve at night. It is some one who used to wander in the streets, and who has died recently. A headless white horse is often seen on Muddy Creek bridge, near Quaker Neck. A white man was killed by the horse, and so the latter appears as a ghost. Ghosts sometimes appear in white and sometimes in dark clothes. The white are good spirits; the dark are bad. Dogs are often beaten or chased by ghosts or spirits. A colored woman described such a chastising of her dog; she heard the lashes of the invisible rod, and so on. " Spirits just float along, but don't really walk on the ground. Some can and some can't see spirits. A man had his head knocked all on one side because he would n't give the road to a spirit." I27. The literature of the evil eye superstition is so voluminous that it is hopeless to give a list even of the most important titles. Perhaps the most interesting single work is The Evil Eye, by Frederick T. Elworthy, London, 1895. 128. To prevent harm to butter from a bad [evil] eye, a nail that has been used in a horseshoe, a little salt, and a bit of lighted coal from a turf fire are put under the churn. To avert danger from the evil eye, if a visitor comes while churning is going on, he must say, " God bless the work," take the churn-dasher, and give two or three strokes with it. (County Roscommon, Ireland.) 130. See notes to No. 77. It betokens ill luck to meet a cross-eyed person in the morning. (Cork, Ireland.) It is bad luck to meet a person with a red head or a cross-eyed person. One may avert the ill luck by spitting. (County Roscommon, Ireland.) 132. This contains the same idea as is involved in the use of the embalmed hand of a dead man, known as a "hand of glory." For detailed directions in regard to the mode of preparing such a talisman, and an account of some of its properties, see S. Baring-Gould's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, London, 1892, pp. 405-409. On the preparation of the Diebeskerze, see, also, Wuttke, o05. cit., p. 126. A dead man's hand kept in the house makes butter come well. (County Kerry, Ireland.) 133. This belief in the good fortune to be obtained from encountering or touching a hunchback is widespread. The familiar gobbo, or little hunchback roughly carved from mother-of-pearl or from the stone popularly but incorrectly called "lava," is one of the most valued amulets with which the Neapolitan keeps off the evil eye. 135. To meet a red-haired woman (" foxy woman ") in the early morning means no luck for the day. (Cork, Ireland.) Red-haired people are evil, malicious, and unlucky, perhaps because Typhon, the evil principle, was red. -Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends of Ireland, London, i887, i. 272, also i. 43 and ii. IIi. It is bad luck to have a red-haired person as the first one to enter your house on New Year's Day. - Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore, London, i867, p. I55. Compare the German rhyme: "Rotbart, Schlimme Art." - Wuttke, op5. cit., p. 204. In the United States it is said that one whose eyebrows meet is ill-tempered. I32 Notes. 136. In Great Britain there is a great deal of significance attached to the "first foot," that is, the first comer on New Year's Day. See Napier, opi. cit., pp. i6o, i6i. In Bavaria all luck for the year depends upon the greeting one receives on leaving the house. To be accosted by a young person means good luck, by an old one, bad luck. 137. The same superstition is current in Cornwall. See Robert Hunt's Poputar Romances of the West of England, London, i88i, p. 382. It is also believed in Scotland. See Napier, op5. cit., p. i6o. 139. When starting on a journey, if on leaving the house a man is met, it is a sign of good luck; if a woman, ill luck will follow. (Sweden, near Stockholm.) In going anywhere on business, it is unlucky to meet a woman, lucky to meet a man. On meeting a woman it is best to turn back. (Courland, Russia.) To meet a maiden or a priest is a bad sign; to meet a courtesan, a good sign. - Ennemoser, History of Magic, trans. by Wm. Howitt, London, 1854, ii. 203. 14I. I have known of a child, near Salem, Ind., being taken two or three miles to be cured of the " thrash " in this way. A person who has never seen his father can cure sore mouth (canker). (Ireland.) Such a child cannot only cure a sore mouth (locally known as a dirty mouth), but also the toothache. The operator uses some charm, which he must not tell or he would lose his power of healing. (County Armagh, Ireland.) I42. A boy at Ayer Village was recently cured of sore eyes by the seventh son of a seventh son. The latter rubbed his own eyes with a silver dime, and this was hung as a charm about the boy's neck. A lotion of milk and water was used at the same time. (Massachusetts.) In the north of Ireland the seventh son of a seventh son or the child of parents who had the same surname can cure the goitre by driving the diseased person to a well, using a scarf or similar article as reins. On arriving at the well, the healer takes up water in the palm of his hand and gives it to the patient, saying: " In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." This must be done before sunrise or after sunset. It is said that special healing gifts can be used only for the benefit of one of the opposite sex. (Maine coast.) I44. If a bat catches hold of the hair, it may carry some off, and you '11 go to hell. (County Cork, Ireland.) 147. It is considered unlucky if a cow brings forth twins. But if one be a bull and the other a heifer, it is less unfortunate than if both calves are of one sex. The omen often portends death. (County Armagh, Ireland.) 156. If you kill a cat, you '11 have bad luck for seven years. (Isle of Jersey.) i66. A black and white cat is considered lucky to have. (County Armagh, Ireland.) 170. When two friends get at odds without knowing why, they say, " A black cat has crossed our path." (Russia.) 184. A cat "washing its face " means visitors. (Courland, Russia.) i88. When a cat is washing her face, the first one she looks at will be the first to die. Children often run away so she won't look at them. (County Cork, Ireland.) i96. " Oh, what can ail the mastiff bitch? "-Coleridge, Christabel. The howling of a dog is a death-warning. It is believed that a dog howls because he sees the devil contending with guardian angels for the possession of a departing soul, or because the devil has triumphed and the soul is lost. -T. A. Janvier, "Mexican Superstitions and Folk-Lore," Scribner's Magazine, March, 1889. Notes. I33 The howling of a dog betokens death to the owner or one of his family. Dogs are supposed to have a peculiar capacity to foresee an impending fatality. (Russia.) See, also, Brand, op. cit., pp. I84-186, and Wuttke, op. cit., p. 120. 215. One white foot, try a horse, Two white feet, buy a horse, Three white feet, look well about him, Four white feet, go home without him. (Kansas.) 217. It is lucky to see a white horse. (Isle of Jersey.) If you meet a white horse, it is good luck. (Burnley, Lancashire, England.) 228. To meet a sow the first thing in the morning bodes ill luck for the day. - Napier, op. cit., p. I20. 233. See Sir Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errors, bk. v. chap. xxii. Also Brand, op. cit., iii. 201, 202. The same omen is generally credited in Scotland (Napier, of. cit., p. II5), in Brittany, and in Russia. See, also, Dr. Ludwig Hopf's Thierorakel u. Orakelthiere, Stuttgart, I888, p. 66. 236. See Joel Chandler Harris's Nights with Uncle Remus, Boston, I889, p. I71. 257. This is also believed in Scotland. - Napier, op. cit., p. 114. 260. The same omen is believed in Staffordshire, England, and in County Cork, Ireland. 265. If cocks crow at "untimeish" seasons, it is counted unlucky. (North of Ireland.) When a cock crows in an untimely part of the night, some people think that it is a sure omen of a fire either from his own house or near his neighborhood. Children in such a family are strictly forbidden to imitate the crowing of a cock after dark. (Japan.) The frequent crowing of cocks in the evening or early night shows they are keeping evil or misfortune away from the house. (Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland.) See, also, Shropshire Folk-Lore, ed. by Charlotte S. Burne, London, 1883, p. 229. 270. If two hens fight, two strangers are coming. (Cork, Ireland.) If two chickens fight, it foretells a visitor. -" Chinese Superstitions," Popular Science Monthly, vol. xxxii. No. 6. 275. The same superstition is believed in County Roscommon, Ireland, in Scotland (Napier, of. cit., p. 113), in Iceland (J6n Arnason, Icelandic Legends, second series, London, I866, p. 643), and in Italy, see Rivista delle Tradizioni Popfolari Italiane, i. 71. 277. Whistling girls and crowing hens Always come to some bad end. The retort is: - Whistling girls and jumping sheep, The best property a man can keep. (New York and Vermont.) A whistling girl and a laughing sheep Are the very best property a man can keep (because they can't eat much). (Northern Ohio.) On the whole subject of omens derived from domestic fowls and their crowing, see Hopf, op. cit., pp. I60-I67. 280. The crow seems in general to be a bird of almost as evil portent as the 1|34 Notes. raven. It is especially feared in Persia, India, and China. See Hopf, o5. cit., pp. 119, 120. Crows cawing or lighting near a house betoken death. (Germany.) If a crow flies over a house, it is a sign of death to some one in the house. (Isle of Jersey.) " Among hunting tribes the cawing of a crow at night would cause a large party of warriors to run for home and give up an expedition." -Page 224. "The inhabitants of St. Catherine's Island, on the coast of California, had two crows in the court of their temple, which were their oracles. They were thrown into great alarm because they were killed by the Spaniards." - Quoted in The Origin of Primitive Superstitions, Rushton M. Dorman, Philadelphia, 1881, p. 225. 285. Such rhymes and many sayings about crows seem to have been transferred to America from Great Britain, where they are applied to magpies. For instance: - One for sorrow, two for mirth; Three a marriage, four a birth; Five for heaven, six for hell; Seven-the devil's own sel'! (County Durham, England.) -Notes to R. Jefferies's Round About a Great Estate, London, 1891. The appearance of a single magpie in Lancashire and Yorkshire is an evil omen. The charm can be broken by raising the hat, by signing the cross on the breast, or by crossing the thumbs. An old gentleman in Yorkshire crosses his thumbs and then spits over them while crossed. A man who had seen a " pynot" (magpie) as he came along the road had made a cross in the mud in the road to avert the evil omen. - Harland and Wilkinson, of. cit., pp. 143, 144. 287. Our American cuckoos are less common with us than the famous European species seems to be throughout northern and western Europe. The note of our birds is less peculiar, and therefore it does not seem to have attracted much popular attention. Many intelligent people are acquainted neither with the appearance nor the notes of either of the two species common in the northeastern States. It is therefore not remarkable that our folk-lore should be almost destitute of the wealth of significance attached to the European cuckoo as a fortune-teller, a weather-prophet, a magical creature which can change into a hawk, an immortal and omniscient being. See De Gubernatis, op. cit. ii. pp. 230 235. 291. In Scotland a turtle-dove seen on a wedding day is a good omen.Napier, op. cit., p. 46. 292. A neighborhood story that I remember in northern Ohio told how a white dove one day flew into a room. The person who saw the bird afterwards learned that at the very hour a near relative had died far away. In general our lore in regard to doves is very meagre as compared with that of Europe, ancient and modern. See Hopf, op. cit., pp. 156-159. 295. An ethnologist and his Indian attendant heard an owl towards night when within three miles of camp. The Indian dropped on his knees, covering his head in fright, and could not be persuaded to go on, but insisted on spending the night where they were. He believed evil of some kind was ahead of them. On the fear of Indians at meeting or hearing owls, see, also, Bancroft's Native Races of the Pacifc States, iii. 128. 296. The cry of an owl near the house is a bad omen. Cuando el tecolote canta, el indio muere. Este no es cierto, pero succede. Notes. I35 When the screech-owl cries, the Indian dies. This is not certain, but it usually happens. " Mexican Superstition," T. A. Janvier, Scribner's Magazine, March, 1889. The owl has everywhere and always, it would seem, been greatly feared as a bird of evil omen. In India the hut on which an owl has once alighted is to be torn down. -Jour. Anthropolog. Inst., iv. 281. See Jones's Credulities, pp. 367 -369. 299. It is hard to tell whether our omens derived from the partridge or ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) have originated in this country or whether they have been transferred to the American bird from the true European partridge (Perdix cinerea). The latter, according to Aldrovandus, was so intelligent a bird that it would cry aloud if poison was being prepared in the house. - Quoted by Hopf, op. cit., p. 167. 303. The same omen is credited in the Island of Jersey. But, on the other hand, the Chinese put out fresh peacock feathers on New Year's Day, thinking that they keep away sickness and bring all sorts of good luck. —" Chinese Superstitions," in Popular Science Monthly, vol. xxxii. No. 6. 312. It is evident enough here that our robin (a thrush) has been given the attributes of the English robin, as they appear, for instance, in the following:If nests of robins or wrens are robbed, the cows will give bloody milk. Robinets and Jenny Wrens Are God Almighty's cocks and hens. -John Timb's Popular Errors, London, 188o, p. 153. Alpine herdsmen believe that cows give red milk if robins are killed within the pasture-ground. - Jones's Credulities, p. 421. 313. This is because the swallow is peculiarly a sacred bird. See De Gubernatis, op. cit., ii. 239-242. The martin and swallow Are God's shirt and collar; The robin and titter-wren Are God's cock and hen. And so these birds are not to be molested. (Essex, England.) "In Swabia, the man who kills a swallow will have his cows give red milk, or his house will be struck with lightning. Some believe that such a sacrilegious act will be followed by rain of four weeks' duration." - Kelly, Curiosities of IndoEuropean Tradition and Folk-Lore, p. 102. See, also, Shropishire Folk-Lore, ed. by Charlotte S. Burne, London, 1883, p. 218. Red milk is bewitched and must be poured away; if one keeps red-throated swallows in the house, the red milk disappears. - Dr. M. R. Buck, Medicinischer Volksglauben u. Volksaberglauben aus Schwaben, Ravensburg, 1865, p. 43. 314. When a swallow builds its nest near the house, it portends good luck. (Western Norway.) Swallows and martins building about a house or barn bring good luck. (Lancashire, England.) - Harland and Wilkinson, op. cit., p. I43. 328. See Napier, op. cit., p. Ir4. 332. This is also believed in western Norway. 344. In Japan this announces the coming of unexpected guests. 354. This is evidently a trifling survival of that serpent-worship which formed so important a feature in the early religion of the East. See James Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship, London, I873. Also De Gubernatis, of. cit., ii. chap. v., and Hopf, of. cit., pp. I82-191. 136 Notes. The serpent as a house-spirit was a familiar figure in ancient Greece, and later among Teutonic and Slavic peoples. 363. This may be a penalty impressed upon the minds of boys for humanitarian reasons, since frogs form such excellent targets for stones and are often found in pools and streams in cow pastures. But probably there is some further significance in the saying, for the frog is an animal of considerable celebrity in mythology. In Ireland there are many sacred ("blessed ") frogs to be found in the holy wells, and the prohibition above cited may be due to a half-forgotten veneration of the animal. 366. It is a curious fact that the Omaha Indian name for toad is Ee-kun-git-ae, which signifies his grandmother is dead. 376. Napier, op. cit., p. I 15. It is very unlucky to break a spider's web. (North of Ireland.) 39I. " Others have thought themselves secure of receiving money, if by chance a little spider fell upon their cloaths." - Secret Memoirs of the late Mr. Duncan Campbell, quoted in Brand, op. cit., iii. 223. Twist or wind a "money spider " nine times round your head for money or luck. Take him by the web as he spins down. (Isle of Jersey.) In Bavaria spider omens depend upon the time of day when the spider is seen. Spinne am Abend Glick bringend und labend. Spinne am Morgen Kummer und Sorgen. Spinne am Mittag Gliick fiir den anderen Tag. Or Sorge und grosse Plag. 401. See Napier, op. cit., p. 114. 4I. It is lucky to have a butterfly alight on you. (Cork, Ireland.) 415. " Many cicadas [wrongly translated grasshoppers] indicate that the year will be pestilential." - Theophrastus of Eresus, On Winds and on Weather Signs, translated by James G. Wood, London, I894. The Greek title of the work runs as follows: HEpl onfEijiv iSTdTwv ical Wrevcrwv Kal XeLcY(wv Kal evuLwv. 416. Crickets are guardians of the hearth. Misfortune will come if one is killed in the house. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) See Brand, op. cit., iii. I89, I90. 419. If a cricket chirps behind the stove, some one of the family must die. Others consider it an omen of good luck. - Dr. M. R. Buck, op. cit., p. 54. 420. If any one kill a cricket, other crickets will come at night and bite holes in that person's stockings or other clothes. (A common belief in Ireland.) 421. In County Roscommon, Ireland, it is believed that the tick of the deathwatch is caused by two spiders in the wall knocking their heads together. See, also, Secret Memoirs of the late Mr. Duncan Campbell, London, 1732, p, 6i. 425. A persistent, troubling fly indicates speedy news. (England.) If a fly falls into the porridge, it foretells a visitor. - Article on "Chinese Superstitions," Popular Science Monthly, vol. xxxii. No. 6. See Hopf, op. cit., pp. 213-216. According to Lenormant, flies furnished an important means of divination Votes. 137 among the Babylonians. - Franoois Lenormant, La Divination et la Science des Presages chez les Chaldeens, Paris, I875, pp. 95, 96. 429. To see a lady-bug signifies good luck. (England.) In most parts of Europe the lady-bug was once held sacred, and many of the children's names for it still testify to this fact. CHAPTER III. 434. So, also, Willsford in the following delightful passage:"The commonwealth of emmets, when busied with their eggs, and in ordering their state affairs at home, it presages a storm at hand, or some foul weather; but when nature seems to stupifie their little bodies, and disposes them to rest, causing them to withdraw into their caverns least their industry should engage them by the inconveniency of the season, expect then some foul and winterly weather." - Nature's Secrets.1 In Brittany, too, it is believed that when ants are unusually busy, foul weather is at hand. Greek weather-lore took into account the doings of ants: - "If ants on the side of a hollow carry their eggs from the nest to the high ground, it indicates rain; but if they carry them down, fair weather."- Theophrastus, op. cit. 44I. "Many birds do prune their feathers; and geese do gaggle; and crows seem to call upon rain." - Francis' Bacon, Nat. Hist., century ix. 823. 447. This belief seems to be closely allied to the fancy of the Maryland negroes (shared also by the Irish peasantry of County Cork), that "hogs can see the wind." The omen is also current in the Bahama Islands. These negroes believe, too, that if a human being suck milk from the teats of a sow, he can ever after see the wind. The pig, indeed, seems to have enjoyed a high reputation as a weatherwise animal throughout Europe from very early times, as the following extracts may show:"Swine in miry litter madly wallowing," is quoted as an omen of bad weather by Aratus in his Aoarjueta. Virgil, in book i. of the Georgics, states as a sign of fair weather, after rain: "The impure swine are not heedful to toss about with their snouts the loosened wisps." So, also, it is a current belief in Brittany that pigs running about with straws in their mouths foretell rain. Again, "Hogs crying and running unquietly up and down with hay or litter in their mouths foreshews a storm to be near at hand." - Willsford's Nature's Secrets, p. I30. See, also, Shrofshire Folk-Lore, by Charlotte S. Burne, London, 1883, pp. 210, 21i. And " swine being seen to carry bottles of hay or straw to any place and hide them " is quoted as a sign of rain in The Husbandman's Practice or Prognostication for ever, London, 1664. So, too, " It is proverbial that pigs see the wind; and they undoubtedly become restless and prepare their straw beds prior to a severe storm, some hours before human beings are aware of its approach." - Charles St. John, Wild Sports in the Highlands, p. 308. 1 The passages from Willsford, The Husbandman's Practice, Lupton, Digges, and Melton, are quoted from John Brand's Popular Antiquities, London, 1849, vol. iil. I38 NVotes. 454. All animal cries, e. g. of cat, horse, cow, sheep, hen, and so on, are called "bawling" in Newfoundland. 455. It should be noted that (in obedience to the dictates of would-be modesty) the word cock is seldom used by uneducated people in this country, rooster being the usual term employed. See note on animal names. " And generally birds and cocks pecking themselves is a sign of rain; and so when they imitate the sound of water as if it were raining." - Theophrastus, o0p. cit., p. 58. If, while it is raining, a cock crow on the fence, it indicates clearing weather; if on the ground, the rain will continue. (County Cork, Ireland.) When a cock crows, if he bobs his head afterward, it is a sign of fair weather. (Ireland.) A cock crowing after a shower is a sign that clear weather is coming. (County Cork, Ireland.) 467. It is common in many parts of the country to say that birds "call for rain," i. e. that they not only prophesy its coming, but that they are actually rainmakers. So in County Cork, Ireland, when ducks quack much they are said to " call for rain." 468. Theophrastus says that "frogs croaking more than usual indicate rain." - Of. cit., p. 57. And frogs croaking is mentioned as an omen of rain in The Husbandman's Practice and Prognostication for ever. Again, " The lamentable croaking of frogs more than ordinary denotes rainy weather." - Willsford's Nature's Secrets, p. 130. Even from as far away as Japan comes testimony that tree frogs making a loud noise foretell rain. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) 469. But, on the other hand, "when frogs begin to appear, sow your melons." - Victor Hugo in The Toilers of the Sea. 470. " Geese cackling more than usual or fighting for their food is a sign of a storm." - Theophrastus, op. cit., p. 67. 472. This seems to have been a general belief in England for three hundred years and more, for we learn that "the peacock, by his harsh and loud clamor, prophesies and foretells rain, and the louder they cry, the more rain is signified." -Thomas Lupton, Eleventh Book of Notable Things, London, I660, No. Io, p. 3II. And the noise of "pecokes" is said to foretell rain. - A Prognostication Everlasting of Ryght Good Effect, Leonard Digges, Gentleman, London, 1556. 477. A cicada which sings at sunset foretells rain when it sings unusually loud. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) According to Hopf (op. cit., p. 217), the lively singing of the cicada foretells good weather. An old Italian rhyme gives the coming of the cicada as the surest sign of spring:Non crede alla Rondine ne alla farfalla, Ma ben alla Cicada che mai falla. 487. Any one who has been suckled by a sow is able to see the wind. This power he gets from the sow, which can herself see it. All cows can see the wind. (Chestertown, Md., negro.) 495. The notes of the tomtit and robin (Indian) are quoted from Professor A. F. Chamberlain, Clark University. 506. "One day, when we went to pay a visit to some families of Chinese Notes. I39 Christian peasants, we met, near a farm, a young lad, who was taking a buffalo to graze along our path. We asked him carelessly, as we passed, whether it was yet noon. The child raised his head to look at the sun, but it was hidden behind thick clouds and he could read no answer there. ' The sky is so cloudy,' said he, 'but wait a moment;' and with these words he ran toward the farm, and came back a few minutes afterward with a cat in his arms. 'Look here,' said he, 'it is not noon yet;' and he showed us the cat's eyes, by pushing up the lids with his hands.... They (the Christian natives) pointed out that the pupils of their (the cat's) eyes went on constantly growing narrower until twelve o'clock, when they became like a fine line, as thin as a hair, drawn perpendicularly across the eye, and that after twelve the dilatation recommenced."-M. Huc, Journey through the Chinese Empire, ii. 303, 304. 507. "The old woman promised him a fine day to-morrow, because the cat's skin looked bright." - Southey's Travels in Spain. 5IO. " When the cat washes her face over her eares, we shall have great store of raine." — Melton, Astrologaster, p. 45. "True calendars, as pusses ear wash't ore to tell what change is neare." - Herrick, Hesperides, p. 155. A cat foretells a thaw when it washes itself, in winter, behind its left ear. - J6n Arnason, Icelandic Legends, London, I864. See, also, Angelo de Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology, New York and London, 1872, ii. 64. 522. This saying is common also among English sailors. "Sailors dislike to see a cat on shipboard unusually frolicsome. They say on such occasions, ' The cat has a gale of wind in her tail.' - Sir Henry Ellis, in Brand's Popular Antiquities, iii. i88. So, also, in Iceland, " If old cats play in winter, it is a sign of bad weather approaching." - J6n Arnason, op. cit., p. 652. In England, too, " A cat frisking about the house shows the approach of windy or stormy weather." - Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore, p. 157. 525. " If a cat stretch itself so far that the claws come forth on the front paws, it foretells a gale." - J6n Arnason, op5. cit., p. 652. 528. This omen is believed in England to-day and seems to be of long standing there, for we read that " Cats coveting the fire more than ordinary, or licking their feet and trimming the hair of their heads and mustachios, presages rainy weather." -Willsford's Nature's Secrets, p. 131. 537. "Cattle eating more than usual and lying down on the right side indicate storm."- Theophrastus, op. cit., p. 69. 54. " The ox licking his fore-hoof indicates a storm or rain." - Theophrastus, oi. cit., p. 57. 551. The same omen is believed in County Cork, Ireland, and the following is given as an omen of rain: " Ducks and drakes shaking and fluttering their wings when they rise." - The Husbandman's Practice and Prognostication for ever. A slightly different version, from Grecian sources, is: " Divers and ducks, both wild and tame, indicate rain by diving, but wind by flapping their wings." - Theophrastus, op. cit., p. 63. 559. The same belief is held in the Bahama Islands. This is an old omen, for we learn that it is a sign of rain when " Flies beyond their wont Sharpen their stings and raven more for blood." — Aratus, op. cit., lines 972, 973. 140 Notes. In England the omen holds good, but it is interpreted in the opposite way. In the words of the driver of a trap: " Sure to be a fair day to-morrow 'cause there was such a terrifying number of flies settled on the horse all day." (Buckinghamshire, England.) 564. The Newfoundland omen is certainly of respectable antiquity, for it is referred to by Bacon, Natural History, century ix. ~ 823. Also: " If birds fly away from the sea, they foretell a storm." - Theophrastus, op. cit. 566. " For the hens know that they must eat, whether their feathers get wet or not." 571. This omen, however, is weakened by the fact that "all animals feed to windward." (Trinity Bay, N. F.) 592. " Swallows flying low " is given as an omen of rain in The Husbandman's Practice and Prognostication for ever. So, too, " Swallows flying low and touching the water often with their wings presage rain." - Willsford's Nature's Secrets, p. I34. So, also, when swallows fly low it presages rain. (Brittany.) 594. When swallows fly high it will be fine weather. (Brittany.) "When swallows fleet soar high and sport in air, He told us that the welkin would be clear." - Gay, Shepherd's Week. 611. According as the goose-bone is white or red, the winter will be cold or mild. -Thorpe, Northern Mythology, iii. I83. See Stallybrass's Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, London, 1883, iii. 1114. 612. This belief is evidently a survival of the state of mind which led the ancient Greeks and Romans to have the haruspex consult the entrails of a victim slain for the purpose, before any considerable venture, e. g. a battle was undertaken. Among such tribes as the Malays and Polynesians, some Asiatics, and the Central Africans of to-day haruspication is still a favorite mode of forecasting the future. See Tylor's Primitive Culture, i. 123, 124. 626. Killing a spider will bring rain. (Sussex, England.) 628. This saying is undoubtedly due to the fact that the webs are best seen on a dewy morning, and such mornings are most commonly followed by clear days. See, also, Hopf, op. cit., pp. 221-223. 632. It is widely believed in Japan that if a snapping-turtle or a newt bites any one, the animal will not let go until it thunders. - Professor Kingo Miyabe. CHAPTER IV. 638. Compare James Whitcomb Riley's "Doodle-bugs! Doodle-bugs! Come up an' git some bread!" -Poems Here at Home, New York, I896, p. 138. The following are from Inaqua, Bahama Islands: — Doodle, doodle, massa call you, For your butter and bread; If you don't come he '11 take a firestick And knock you down, barn! Doodle, doodle, come to town, Sweet bread, sweet butter. Notes. 14' Doodle, doodle, come out of your hole, For peas and rice and bread and butter; Who don't come won't get none. Some kind of larva that lives in a hole in the ground, about the size of a knitting-needle, is angled for by dropping a juicy grass-stalk into the hole. Children call to it "Cogomus, cogomus, come out of your hole!" i. e. " humpbacked worm, come out of your hole!" (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) 643. Felix Oswald, in Popular Science Monthly, vol. xxx., article on " Zo6logical Superstitions," suggests that bats "' are apt to make their headquarters in smokestacks and thus incur the suspicion of bacon-curing housewives." He gives the rhyme: - Bat, bat, fly in my hat, And I '11 give you some bacon-fat. 644. Bats are commonly called "leather-bats," or "leather-winged bats." (County Cork, Ireland.) There is much doubt in the popular mind in regard to the place of bats in the animal kingdom. While they are not, perhaps, generally taken for birds, few are aware of their mammalian nature. Near Manchester, England, bats (commonly called "bit-bats ") are supposed to be hatched from eggs sat upon by toads. - Jones's Credulities, pp. 469, 470. 647. The notes of the crowing cock are so sharp and distinct that they have naturally been imitated in words, as we say cock-a-doodle-doo and the Germans kikerikiih, as in Heine's Kinderzeiten. 649. In England rhymes are sometimes repeated on seeing a crow, as:Crow, crow, get out of my sight, Or else I'11 eat thy liver and lights. (Lancashire and Yorkshire, England.) - Harland and Wilkinson, op. cit., p. 70. More frequently the rhymes refer to magpies ("pynots"). One for sorrow, Two for mirth, Three for a wedding, And four for a birth. (Liverpool, England.) One for anger, Two for mirth, Three for a wedding, Four for a birth, Five for rich, Six for poor, Seven for a witch: I can tell you no more. (Lancashire, England.) - Harland and Wilkinson, op. cit., p. 144. 653, 654. Professor A. F. Chamberlain, Clark University. 656. The portion in parenthesis is said almost inaudibly. 665. Ever welcome father longlegs Never said a prayer, Catch him by the long leg And pull him down the stair. The stair made a crack, The Proddy1 broke his back, 1 Protestant, a common opprobrious nickname. 142 Notes. And all the little devileens Said w'ack, w'ack, w'ack. (County Cork, Ireland. 668. All of the grasshopper incantations are repeated while the insect is held in the hand. A small kind of grasshopper is given a straw by children and told to " Smoke the pipe of the king's daughter." He will take it in his mouth and hold it with his feet. (Syria.) Take a grasshopper by the hind-legs and say to it: " My aunt, my aunt, go on with your weaving," because the grasshopper moves its legs as a woman does in weaving on a hand-loom. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) 671. For other rhymes addressed to the lady-bug, see De Gubernatis, of. cit., ii. 210, 211. Lady-bug, lady-bug, fly away home, Your house is on fire, your children will burn, They're all burned but one, And that's 'under the dripping-pan. (Sussex, England.) Cusha-coo-lady, fly away home, Thy house is afire and all thy bairns gone, etc. (East Riding of Yorkshire.) -Harland and Wilkinson, op. cit., p. 71. Lady-bird charm: — Lady-bird, lady-bird, eigh (hie) thy way home, Thy house is on fire, thy children all roam; Except little Nan, who sits in her pan, Weaving gold laces as fast as she can. (Lancashire and Yorkshire.) - Harland and Wilkinson, op. cit., p. 70. The insect is also known as lady-cow, cow-lady, and cusha-cow-lady. Lady-bug, lady-bug, fly away home, Your house is on fire and your children alone, All burned but one, And that's Brown Betty that sits in the sun. Or, Fly to the east, fly to the west, Fly to the one that you love best. (Essex, England.) Lady, lady Landers, Fly away to Flanders. (Western Scotland.) - Napier, op cit., p. i6. Maikatt, fliigg weg, stuff weg, Bring my morgen goet Wedder med. May-cat, fly away, hasten away, Bring me good weather with you to-morrow. (From the marsh of the Elbe.) Marspaert (Markpiert), flug in Himmel! Bring' my 'n Sack voll Kringeln, My een, dy een, alle liitten Engeln een. Marspiert, fly to heaven! Bring me a sack full of biscuits, One for me, one for thee, for all the little angels one. (From Ploen.) Both the above are quoted by Thorpe from Miillenhoff, Northern Mythology, iii. 508, 509. Notes. 143 Children in Gothenburg, Sweden, say at sight of a lady-bug, or when one alights on a child: - Guldhona, guldh6na, flyg, flyg, Lit itt bli vackert vader i mor gon, Golden hen, golden hen, fly, fly, Let the weather to-morrow be full. Or another: Golden hen, golden hen, fly, fly, Thy house is burning, thy children are gone. It is very bad to kill this insect. Children love it and take care not to injure it. In Lettland the children repeat in German the invocation commonly used by American children. The names given to the lady-bug are legion. Besides those already given, the following may be cited:Red soldier. (Cork, Ireland.) God's cow. (Athlone, Ireland.) To kill one is, in Ireland, considered a sin. Children stroke them, talk to them, and look for their teats. They are said to have twelve teats. Lady-bee. (England.) Goldsmith. (Norway, Iceland.) Marien Kaferchen Sonnenkafer Gott. (Germany.) La galifia d' San Michel. (Piedmont, Italy.) Lucia. (Tuscany, Italy.) Tentomushi. Tento (colloquial), the sun, worshipped as a deity; heaven; the ruling power of nature; the Deity. Mushi, insect. (Japan.) 680. Children say to jumping spiders: - Spider, spider, Jump up a rider. (Sussex, England.) "A spider hanging down on a house must not be torn down, but you must put your hand under it and say: ' Up! up! fishing-carl; your wife lies ill in her childbed, with eighteen children in her arms.' Or, 'Row up from below, fishing-carl, if you betoken fine weather. Row down if you promise foul.' "- J6n Arnason, of. cit., p. 636. CHAPTER V. In connection with our rich and varied fauna a very large and little studied set of folk-names has arisen. It is greatly to be desired that some competent zoologist should undertake the preparation of a dictionary of these names. Many of them would have to be sought from the common people among whom they are current, but there is already a mass of literature which should be culled for animal names. Beginning with such works as Wood's New England's Prospect, John Josselyn's Rarities, London, i672, and his Account of Two Voyages to New England, London, 1674, books of travel and systematic works on American zo6logy should be I44 Notes. ransacked for names. Among recent works, some of the most valuable for the purpose in question are the entomologies of Packard and of Comstock, D. S. Jordan's Manual of Vertebrates and his writings on American fishes, the Reports of the U. S. Fish Commission, the ornithological writings of Audubon, Nuttall, Coues, Baird, Brewer, and Ridgeway, and the Standard Natural History. 682. Generally among country people in the United States it is counted very indelicate to pronounce the word "bull." Men and boys may use the word when by themselves, but in many homes it would be thought to be absolutely indecent to say " bull " in the presence of women or children. The majority of country girls grow up learning by local tradition to avoid the use of the word. Mothers modestly give some euphemism for their little girls to use when they are obliged to speak of a bull. In a country neighborhood in northern Ohio, where my own childhood was spent, we were accustomed to speak of a bull as a " moo-cow." I well remember a somewhat savage bull that was often carelessly allowed by its owner to pasture in the highway. The little girls of the district school were terrified at sight of the animal, and if they heard his low bellowing in the distance would run away crying, "The moo-cow is coming, the moo-cow is coming.") In the neighborhood of Chestertown, Md., the children call a bull either " mancow)" or " curly-face." New England country matrons, as far as possible, avoid naming the creature, or if obliged to refer to it, are accustomed simply to say " the animal. Many persons say " bullock," feeling that to be more modest than " bull." This popular attitude of mind of country people concerning the word " bull" is but one instance of many that could be brought forward to show a strange psychological condition that prevails among country folk concerning the sex of animals. In some localities it is the male of a certain class of domestic animals that must not be mentioned by its proper name; elsewhere it is the female. Again, as in the case of hogs, in many places it is thought to be very indelicate to pronounce the name that distinguishes the sex of either male or female. A woman will often say, " the old pig " or " the old hog," to avoid pronouncing either sow or boar. She will speak in a half whisper or with averted look, too, as if ashamed at being obliged to refer to the animal in any way. Country people in the United States prefer to say " rooster " instead of " cock," and often criticise English people as being vulgar or indelicate when they use the latter word. I have known of New England reared people saying "cockerel," thinking that less objectionable than " cock." District school children are often ridiculously squeamish and may greatly annoy their teacher by their unwillingness to pronounce either in their reading or spelling lessons words that indicate the sex of certain animals. About twenty-five years ago an intelligent country school teacher in western New York was hearing the reading lesson of a class of grown-up boys and girls. The lesson for the day happened to be a quotation from the Old Testament. A pupil read the verse: "1 They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst." -Psalm civ. I I. The teacher observed that the pupil said " The wild a-s " instead of the wild asses, and called, as was her wont, at the close of the paragraph, for the other pupils to make corrections. Not a hand was raised. The teacher asked the pupil to re-read the paragraph. This she did, word for word as at first. No correcting hand was raised. The teacher made the correction but was greatly puzzled. At recess one of the older girls went to the teacher and told her that a former teacher had directed the pupils whenever they had occasion to pronounce the word " ass" to avoid it and instead say a. In another place I knew of a little girl who thought it bold to say "jackass," Notes. I45 and who always carefully pronounced the word with a very decided accent on the first syllable, " jack'ass." Both in New England and in the Central and Western States there is a strong feeling among country people against the use of the word " mare." It is thought to be a very unlady-like word, and many matrons are mortified if their husbands or sons say " mare " in their presence. 685. A somewhat vulgar name for the animal, especially common among German-Americans, is no doubt based on a misconception of the nature of the protective secretion which calls popular attention to the skunk. 687. "Moast loike a butter-bump."- Tennyson's Northern Farmer, Old Style. I have never heard this name elsewhere in the United States. 691. Other, hardly quotable, names are founded upon the bird's peculiar conduct when flushed. 695. Because of its spotted plumage, like that of a Guinea fowl. 707. Evidently a euphemism for pismire. 713. From the supposed readiness with which the insect will ascend or descend according as it is called by the one or the other name. 714. Supposed to sting especially people who are sweating. 720. From its supposed companionship with snakes. See note to No. 1067. 733. See No. 433. CHAPTER VI. 738. This rule is also observed in Athlone, Ireland. A boy from County Sligo, Ireland, said that if swallows took a " rib " (lock) of your hair you should chase them and get it away or they might take it to hell and you 'd have to follow them there for it. If birds get your hair-combings, it will set you crazy. (Island of Inaqua, Bahama Islands.) 741. In northern Ireland and in County Cork, it is considered unlucky not to burn the hair-combings, but in Scotland dangerous to burn them, as this would cause bowel trouble in the owner of the hair. In Lettland hair-cuttings are to be burned, to insure its growing again. In regard to Africans and Patagonians burning the hair for similar reasons to those cited, see Napier, op. cit., p. 40. On the other hand, " If a man burn his own hair on purpose, he burns from him all riches." - J6n Arnason, oft. cit., p. 638. " There was a feeling that on having the hair cut some one might step on it and take away the dignity of the former possessor, therefore it should be put up in a treetop or high bamboo fence." Believed among Samurai class thirty years ago. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) 746. There is a ghoulish nursery tale (source unknown) of an old man who was. poisoned by his wife, who gave him toe-nail parings in his food. Children are told not to bite the finger-nails. If they are swallowed, the nails will grow large in the stomach and cause injury. (Syria and Egypt.) 749. Cutting or paring the nails on Friday or Sunday is very unlucky. - Harland and Wilkinson, op. cit., p. 1 53. You must not cut nails on Sunday or you '11 have bad luck. (Isle of Jersey.) Cut your finger-nails before eating, then wish on a Monday morning, and you '11 have your wish before the week is over. (England.) 753. See Wuttke, op. cit., p. 311. Some theory of this sort must be of very ancient origin; it is certainly very widespread. 146 Notes. 755. "When nails are cut or shorn, each of them must be cut or bitten into three pieces, for else the devil picks them up and adds a whole plank to the deadship." - J6n Arnason, op. cit., p. 639. "A curious Jewish tradition reports that Adam was entirely clothed in a hard, horny skin, and only lost it and became subject to evil spirits on losing Paradise," says a writer in the St. Louis " Globe." " The nails are the remnants of this dress, but they are not sacred, and whoever cuts them off, and throws the cuttings away, does himself an injury. An old Persian chronicle says that Eve also possessed this dress, and the nails were left to remind them of the loss of Paradise. " The tradition that it is wrong to throw the nail parings or cuttings away is ancient and widespread. The old Persian Vendidad asserts that the power of the wicked Devas is increased when they are cast away, and prescribes their burning with certain rites and ceremonies. Another old work says that they must not be cut off without a prayer, or else they become a part of the devil's armor. "' The ancient Edda of the Scandinavians tells of a great ship, Naglfar, which will appear at the last day. It is made of dead men's nails, and parings should not be thrown away, nor should any one die with unpared nails, 'for he who dies so supplies material toward the building of that vessel, which gods and men will wish were finished as late as possible.' " —Newspaper clipping, name and date not given. The usages in regard to burning the nails differ greatly. Nail-parings must be burnt; not allowed to lie about the house. (Central Russia.) They are also burned by the Patagonian natives. See Napier, op. cit., p. 40. But on the other hand: One must not allow parings of human nails to drop into the fire, or the owner will go mad. (Tokio, Japan.) Parings of nails must not be thrown into the fire, else one will be seized with a disease which causes a terrible craving for food and drink. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) " When I was a little girl, I remember a Mrs. D- came to our house and told mother of a child who had been bewitched. I can't begin to tell you the rigmarole she had over, but the gist of it all was that she found out that the child was bewitched, and it didn't make no manner o' diference who 'd cast the siell, it could be cured by taking the child's toe-nails and finger-nails (I don't remember whether they were cut off or bitten off) and burying them at the foot of a white oak tree at midnight. My impression is the person would have to walk backward toward the tree alone in the new of the moon. " I was brought up to think that children should be seen and not heard; but on this occasion my curi6sity got the better of my manners and I asked some questions. I was informed that folks was bewitched now jest as often as they used to be, especially nussin' babies, an' if folks, instead o' givin' 'em paregoric, would go an' bury their nails at the foot of a white oak tree, it would be enough sight more sensible."- A correspondent, Westport, Mass. 757. In Lettland the children in pulling a milk-tooth are careful not to let it fall on the ground, else a dog or cat might get it and the owner have a dog's or cat's tooth come in its place. So children throw the tooth up on top of the stove, say ing: Hamkin nimm den Knockenzahn Gieb mir ein Stahlzahn. The same superstition is held in the Island of Inaqua, Bahama Islands. When losing a milk-tooth, hold it in the fingers before the fire and say, " Mouse, mouse, take my bone tooth and give me a gold one." (Western Norway.) Notes. I47 When a milk-tooth comes out, one must bless one's self and throw it over the head, else a new one will not come in its place. (County Cork, Ireland.) Oh sun, oh sun, take the tooth of the ass And give me a tooth of the gazelle. This is repeated holding a tooth that has been shed up towards the sun. Hide the tooth in a secret place, as a well, pond, etc. (Egypt and Syria.) When milk-teeth are coming out, if from the upper jaw, stand at the opening of a cesspool with the toes in a row, thus: I I I I I I i I I I, and throw it down into the cesspool. If from the lower jaw, throw it onto the housetop. The toes in a row make the teeth grow in an even row. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) When a tooth comes out, if a lower tooth, toss it over the roof, saying, " Let it be changed into a devil's tooth;" if an upper tooth, throw it under the floor. This is to insure strong teeth. (Tokio, Japan.) If you lose a tooth, put it either into a hole in an eastern wall, or in a tomb in the church, for else there will never come a new tooth in the place of the old one. - J6n Arnason, op. cit., p. 645. When you lose a tooth, throw it over your shoulder and say, " In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," etc., and you will never have another aching tooth. (Athlone, Ireland.) You must burn a tooth when drawn, or you will have bad luck. (City of Cork, Ireland.) 759. That it is a somewhat common practice for individuals to preserve a tooth after it had been extracted is proved by the fact that dentists, even those practising in large cities, not infrequently ask the patient who has had a tooth drawn if he would like to have the tooth. More than once a servant, returning from the dentist's, has come to me saying, "Well, I had the tooth out (or two or three, or whatever the number of troublesome teeth), and I have got it in my pocket." I well remember when a little girl, visiting some old people in a quiet country home in Cleveland, Ohio, that I was one day sent to look into the clock for a small pasteboard box of pills of some sort. In hunting for the medicine I happened upon another pasteboard box, which, on being opened, disclosed a vile, discolored, long-rooted molar. I remember with what horror I closed the box and replaced it in its safe hiding-place in the old clock. Many persons who have been obliged to have the tonsils removed keep them preserved in alcohol. CHAPTER VII. 762. Cat's blood is good as a febrifuge. A hole must be cut in the ear of a black cat, three drops of the blood allowed to fall on a piece of bread, and the latter then eaten. - Dr. M. R. Buck, Medicinischer Volksglauben u. Volksaberglauben aus Schwaben, Ravensburg, 1865, p. 44. 764. Shingles (Herpes zoster) is said to be cured by applying the skin of a black cat. The animal must be without a white hair; its throat must be cut, the blood collected in a cup, and then poured into the freshly removed skin, which is to be applied to the diseased surface and will cure in a few hours. A correspondent says: " This is no hearsay matter with the writer, for in his boyhood he was afflicted with this disease and passed a night with the bloody skin of his favorite pussy covering his left side and the pit of his stomach." (Western New York.) In Massachusetts it must be a black cat's skin, to cure shingles. See Stallybrass's Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, London, 1883, iii. 117I. 148 Notes. 767. To cure "wildfire," write the patient's name around the inflamed place with ink, or, much better, with the blood of a black cat. (County Cork, Ireland.) 77I. Remedy for the plague: "There is no medicine more excellent than this, when the sore doth appeare, than to take a Cock-chick and pull it, and let the Rump be bare, and hold the Rump of the said Chick to the sore, and it will gape and labour for life and in the end die; then take another, and the third, and so long as any one do dye; for when the poyson is quite drawn out the Chick will live, the sore presently will assuage, and the party recover. Mr. Winlour proved this upon one of his own children, the thirteenth chick dyed, the fourteenth lived and the party cured." - The Pearl of Practice, London, I683. 774. Snake-bites, according to Pliny, may be cured by the application of warm flesh of a fowl. - Hist. Nat., lib. xxix. cap. xxv. Hottentots in Cape Colony, to cure the bite of a snake, pluck feathers from the breast of a fowl, make an incision in its skin, and apply it to the snake-bite. As the fowl dies the poison is removed. -W. G. Black, Folk-Medicine, London, 1883, pp. 45, 46. See Grimm, op. cit., iii. 1172. 784. " I am reminded of a sure cure for 'yeller Janders' which I have heard in Marshall County (Indiana), and from one or two persons in Chicago. It consists in the administration of a live head-louse (Pediculus capitis) without the knowledge of the patient. One louse is supposed to be an infallible cure for this malady."-Dr. J. T. Kendall, Walnut, Ind. It helps dizziness if a head-louse is given to the patient in bread to eat, without his knowledge of the louse's presence. - Buck, op. cit., p. 55. The father of a well-known Boston editor bit into a live black snake to keep his teeth good, and they kept good until he was seventy-five years old, or until he died an old man. He was noted for his fine teeth. If you bite a live frog you will never have the toothache. (Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland.) 796. A North country English woman recommended putting some cow's manure in a stocking to cure sore throat. The excrement of a cat, dried and powdered, cures fever and ague. (North Hesse, Nassau, and South Westphalia, Germany.) " In an apothecary shop in the city of Marburg, I was shown a drawer containing excrements of dogs, which of course were then kept as relics of times long passed by, said to have been in the shop over one hundred years; they were once a popular remedy and even prescribed by physicians in the first part of the eighteenth century, as a prescription still on file showed. The old apothecary shop was established over two hundred years ago." - A correspondent, Marburg, Germany. 8oi. On the curative effect of sheep-dung for the "pyppe," see Bishop John Bale's Interlude concerning the Laws of Nature, Moses, and Christ, 1562, quoted in Brand, op. cit., pp. 310, 311. 806. A woman in England, within a few years, was given her own urine to drink after severe illness to prevent "fits." One's own urine was administered for gravel in Staffordshire, England. Told by a reliable woman of twenty-two who had recently come from Staffordshire. This happened in her own day. See, also, Buck, op. cit., p. 46. For a full account of the use of human and other excreta in religious and other ceremonies, see John G. Bourke's Scatalogic Rites of all Nations, Washington, I891. A number of superstitions regarding the use of such materials may be found in an article by Dr. G. W. Moorehouse entitled " Bits of Medical FolkLore," in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, February 17, I898. Notes. I49 The curious in filth-remedies may consult Christian Franz Paullini's Heilsame, Dreck-Apfotheke wie nemlich mit Koth und Urin dis meisten Krankheiten und Schaden gliicklich geheilet warden. Nach der vollstandigsten Anflage von I714. Erster Theil, Stuttgart, I847. Being part iii. of Der Schatzgraber. See, also, Michaelis Ettmiilleri, Opera Medica, Francofurti, 1708. Urine is sometimes used instead of soap, as by Alaskans; hence perhaps its lustrative use. 8Io. To cure chin-cough, nine hairs from the tail of a black cat are to be chopped up, soaked in water, and swallowed. (Ireland.) 813. To cure toothache, cut a bit from the hoof of the hind-leg of a horse and plug up the hole in the tooth. (Western Norway.) 814. Clippings of a child's hair and nails, tied up in a linen cloth and put under the cradle, will cure convulsions. (Ireland.) 817. It is said that stockings knit out of yarn spun from dog's hair will cure rheumatism. (Western Norway.) Bind on dirty sheep's wool fresh from the sheep's back, to cure rheumatism. (Western Norway.) 818. Black wool is used for earache. (County Cork, Ireland.) Black wool from a sheep will cure earache, if put into the ear; often one is seen in market to seek a bit from a black sheep. (Greenock, Scotland.) The wool of a black sheep put in the ear cures earache. The hair of a dog also cures it. (Central Sweden.) 823. In Germany it is generally believed that dog fat will cure consumption. In Alsace deer fat is much esteemed as an ointment. 825. The extract of earthworms appears to be one of the principal ingredients in the following complicated remedy: — "Aqua Antiphthisica, A Water against Consumiptions. -Take Garden-Snails, Cong. ii. Earth-worms lb. iv. Mash them together, and put them into an earthen Pan with Cong. ii. of the strongest Spruce-Beer, which stir well together and let it stand an hour or two. Then take Coltsfoot, Clarey, Confrey, Pine-tops, horehound and Ground-Ivy, and m. iv. etc., etc. "This will keep without much danger of Decay and is a most admirable Medicine for the Purpose it is prescribed. For in the Compositions of this Contrivance, the Milk and some of the balsamic Ingredients, which in others, or of themselves would raise nothing but Phlegm, will be lifted up with the nitrous and volatile Part of the Snails and Worms and together make a most healing detergent liquor." This recipe is quoted from the only copy which the author has ever seen of The Complete English Dispensatory, by John Quincy, dedicated to Joseph Collet, governor of Fort St. George. The date is lacking, but it is probably the oldest American dispensatory. Following the old Latin authorities and their successors, Quincy includes Adebs hominis in his list of remedies. 829. According to Pliny, bear's grease was one ingredient in a cure for alopecy (a disease of the scalp accompanied by falling of the hair). — Hist. Nat., lib. xxix. cap. liv. 831. A lame arm caused by a fall was rubbed with skunk oil prescribed by a country doctor near Shiloh, Ohio. The patient used three or four pints and got a pretty good use of her arm. The doctor said all " wild oils " were best. (Ohio.) Eagle's oil cures a lame knee.-Diary of Ebenezer Martin, 1796 (unpublished). 832. On the use of viper oil in medicine, see Pomet's History of Drugs (translated), 4th ed., London, 1748, "Animals," bk. i. p. 51. 150 Notes. The Dyaks and Malays have great belief in the efficiency of boa constrictor fat as a cure for wounds. -Carl Bock, The Head-Hunters of Borneo, p. 213. 839. " Man-keeper " is the colloquial name for some batrachian (?) that countryfolk believe often is swallowed by mistake while drinking from a river. One instance is related of one "spawning" in a man's stomach. (County Armagh, Ireland.) Two girls were walking along the road when one stopped to urinate. They then went on. A physician, following them, saw the traces in the road and knew that the girl who had left them was suffering from the presence of an asloka in her stomach. He hurried on and overtook them and asked which of the girls it was that had stopped by the roadside. At first both denied having done so, but at last the one who had not done so told the doctor that it was her companion. Then the doctor told the girl to come to his house next day, as he knew that there was something dangerous the matter with her. The girl came as she was asked, and the doctor hung her up by the heels and held a dish of fine roast meat under her to tempt the asloka to come out. "And when the asloka heard the smell of the meat, she came out to get some, and tin young ones after her, for she'd spawned in the girl's stomach. And if the doctor had n't brought them out of her stomach, she 'd have died." (County Cork, Ireland.) With reference to stories of swallowing lizards, etc., see the story of Alp Luachra in Douglas Hyde's Irish Gaelic Folk-Stories, p. 47. This gives by far the most vivid idea of this superstition that I have anywhere seen. The fear of swallowing toads, newts ("asks"), etc., is common in western Scotland. For a remedy eat salt herring and lie by a running stream. - Napier, op. cit., pp. 103, 104. 841. " I know of I think at least a dozen cases in which the sufferer supposed he had retained a snake, toad, lizard, or small turtle in the stomach for various lengths of time. I think this superstition is quite widespread."- Dr. J. T. Kendall, Walnut, Ind. A snake in a child's stomach made the child hungry. The mother refused the child food between meals, and so the snake, in its hunger, " set its fangs in the child's heart and sucked it to death." (Servant-maids abroad, Edinburgh, Scotland.) See, also, Grimm, opi. cit., iii. 1159. 843. Bites of flies and bee-stings are treated with saliva, that of the morning or after fasting being best. - Buck, op. cit., p. 42. Bites of mosquitoes, bees, etc., are cured by the application of saliva. (Island bf Kiu Shiu, Japan.) 847. Pliny speaks of " moss-stones," which, " with the addition of human saliva," were rubbed against each other, and thenceforth supposed to be endued with the power to cure skin diseases.- Pliny, op. cit., lib. xxvii. cap. lxxv. A formula for the cure of skin diseases prescribes spitting on the ground three times. - Pliny, op. cit., lib. xxvii. cap. cvi. 848. "To moisten a wart for several days in succession with fasting spittle removes it. I have often seen a nurse bathe the eyes of a baby in the morning with her fasting spittle to cure or prevent sore eyes." - Napier, op. cit., p. 99. 850. " The new shilling which is to cure ringworm should be spat on fasting." -W. G. Black, op. cit., p. I84. 85I. Remove a birthmark by rubbing on it saliva (fasting spittle). (Sweden.) 853. Moisten inflamed eyes with saliva the first thing in the morning for three mornings in succession. (Northern Iceland.) To moisten the eyes with saliva on awakening will cure sore eyes. (Western Norway.) Notes. 5II Anoint inflamed eyes with fasting spittle. (Sweden.) Fasting spittle three mornings in succession will cure inflammation of the eyes. (Syria.) The mother licks the inflamed eyes of a child to cure them, or puts the child's fingers or her own in her mouth and moistens its eye with the finger to cure the inflammation. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) Closely allied to " fasting spittle " was " fasting breath," supposed to be remedial in ocular inflammations, etc. Si nutrix jejuno mane masticet semen facniculi et post masticationem exhalet halitum in oculos infantis. - Ettmiiller, Opera Omnia, ii. 269. "Schroderi Dilucidati Zoologia." "To heale the Kings or Queenes evill, or any other sorenesse in the throte. Let a virgine fasting laie hir hand on the sore, and saie; Apollo denieth that the heate of the plague can increase when a naked virgine quencheth it: and spet three times upon it."- The Discoverie of Witchcraft, by Reginald Scot, Esquire (I584). Reprint edited by Brinsley Nicholson, London, I886, p. I97. "A woman's fasting spittle is generally considered highly efficacious for bloodshot eyes: it is good also for defluxions of those organs, the inflamed corners'of the eyes being moistened with it now and then; the result, too, is still more successful if the woman has abstained from food and wine the day before." - Pliny, op. cit., lib. xxviii. cap. xxii. 856. In Germany it is believed that wounds and sores licked by a dog will soon heal. 858. See Frank Buckland's Curiosities of Natural History, 1st series, London, 1877, pp. 107, io8. 860. See Sir Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errors, bk. iii. chap. xxviii. on saliva as poisonous to snakes. 862. Toad spittle is poisonous. Buck, op. cit., p. 42. But in western Norway toad-spit is said to cure warts. 863. Horse-spit, frog-spit, and cuckoo-spit are names given to the exudation caused by frog-hoppers on plants. (Prince Edward Island.) In Gothenburg, Sweden, this substance is also called snake-spit. In Great Britain it is variously known as cuckoo-spit, snail-spit, and weaselspit, and is generally supposed to be poisonous. 865. A correspondent informs me that in Germany and Austria he has known of a dry dog-skin being wrapped around the affected parts as a cure for rheumatism. 880. Cobwebs and spiders have long been in use for medicinal purposes, usually for external application, as mentioned by Pliny, op. cit., lib. xxix. cap. xxvii. and xxxviii., also lib. xxx. cap. xxx. *" Another curious remedy, said to be very successful, is the web of the black spider, which inhabits barns, stables, and cellars. This substance has been tried on a tolerably large scale, and the testimony to its influence in curing agues is very strong. Dr. Craigie has given this account of it. In the year 1760, a number of prisoners from the vanquished squadron of Thurot having been landed in the Isle of Man, Dr. Gillespie, who was practising there, found that many of the agues which came to prevail, both among the prisoners and the inhabitants of the island, obstinately resisted bark and such other remedies as he had recourse to. He was informed, by an old French physician belonging to the squadron, of the alleged efficacy of cobweb, in certain forms of the disease. He therefore made trial of cobweb, and found it to answer admirably. He was successful with it in more than sixty cases of different types in the Isle of Man, and he had further experience of its utility subsequently in Ayrshire. " After this, the same remedy was tested in the West Indies by Dr. Jackson, to whom Dr. Gillespie had recommended it. Dr. Jackson's observations were made I52 Notes. in the hospital of the army depot, in the West Indies, in 18o0. Several cases of ague, on which bark, arsenic, or mercury, single or alternately, had made either a very temporary impression or none at all, were selected for experiment. In four of these cases, two pills, containing each five grains of cobweb, were given at intervals of two hours, commencing six hours before the expected time of recurrence of the paroxysm. The fit did not return. On subsequent trials it was found not only to arrest the course of agues, but to remove various symptoms, such as pain, delirium, vomiting, griping, in ague, and in continued fever, when these symptoms were unconnected with inflammation. " (We have employed the spider's web in this manner in a number of cases, and in many of them found it very promptly to suspend the paroxysms - as effectually, certainly, as the quinia; in a few cases, however, it failed. - C.)" - From Condid's Watson's Practice of Physic, Philadelphia, 1858, pp. 497, 498. Robert Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, part 2, sect. 5, ingenuously confesses how little faith he had in amulets made of spiders inclosed in nutshells, as recommended by his mother, until he found that Dioscorides prescribed them. 88i. In Scotland ague was believed to be cured by putting a spider into a goose-quill, sealing it up, and hanging it about the neck so as to be near the stomach. It was also believed that ague might be cured by swallowing pills made of a spider's web; one pill for three successive mornings before breakfast.Napier, op. cit., p. 95. 883. A German-American correspondent informs me that it is still quite generally believed in Germany and Austria that rheumatism may be cured by having a dog sleep with the patient. In Oldenburg, Germany, it is believed that a fever may be transferred to either a dog or a cat with which the patient sleeps. - Dr. Adolf Wuttke, Der Deutsche Volksaberglaube der Gegenwart, Berlin, 1869, p. 307. For transference of diseases to dogs and other animals, see, also, Napier, op. cit., pp. 91, 92. Also, Grimm, of. cit., p. 1171. "Marcellus, of old, to cure toothache, recommended the patient to spit in a frog's mouth, and request him to make off with the toothache." - Black, oa. cit., P. 35. " For a toothache, spit in a frog's mouth, and request hihn to make off with the toothache." - Thomas Oswald Cockayne, Leechdoms, Wort-cunning, and Starcraft of Early England, London, Longmans, 1864, i. 30. To cure a thrush, "Take a living frog and hold it in a cloth, that it does not go down into the child's mouth; and put the head into the child's mouth till it is dead; and then take another frog and do the same." - Miscellanies, John Aubrey, I696. Also Black, op. cit., pp. 35, 36. To cure the thrush, hold a gander with its bill in the child's mouth and let it breathe into the mouth three times. Repeat three mornings with the gander fasting. (County Cork, Ireland.) To cure a sore, draw the tongue of a live fox over it. (County Cork, Ireland.) 887. See note to the " Story of the Alp Luachrag' in Irish Gaelic Folk-Stories, by Douglas Hyde. 889. Powdered gastroliths were of great use in mediaeval and later medicine. See Pomet, of. cit., "Animals," bk. i. p. 69. Dioscorides in his Materia Medica, bk. vi. chap. xxxvii. recommends incinerated crayfish taken internally as a remedy for the bite of a mad dog. 890. For cures prepared from dog's flesh, hair, etc., for the bite of a mad dog, see Pliny, of. cit., lib. xxix. cap. xxxii. The "hair of the dog that bit you " is used in China and among Spanish gypsies. The same principle is found in Madagascar. - W. G. Black, op. cit., p. 50. Notes. I53 In the case of a person bitten by a dog, a few hairs taken from the dog's tail, and placed upon the wound, either upon or under a poultice, was regarded as a protection from evil consequences, such as hydrophobia. —See Napier, op. cit., p. IoI. The bite of a dog not rabid is lessened in its bad effects by putting in the wound some of the hair of the end of the dog's tail. (Ortega, Colombia, South America.) In New Hampshire forty and more years ago a boy was bitten by a dog, and the hair of the dog at once procured to put on the bite to keep off hydrophobia. " Their hearts, swallowed fresh, is a good antidote against their venome" (of the rattlesnake). - Josselyn's Rarities, p. 65. 896. Concerning the superstition relating to the "hand of glory," see the chapter on " Physical Superstitions " in Brand's Popular Antiquities. See, also, Wuttke, op. cit., p. 126. 903. The first milk after a cow calves is given to the cow as a physic in Cumberland, England, and in northern Ireland. A custard or pudding is made from the first milk after calving, and is called beastlin pudding. (English people settled in northern Ohio.) This curd or custard is also generally made in the north of Iceland. See "Guthrun sings the Warlock " in chap. iii. of the Saga of Eirick the Red, in Vigfusson's Icelandic Reader. A custard, known as "beastling," is made from the milk of the second milking (that of the first being given to the cow), both in the north and the south of Ireland. It is a general custom in the United States not to use the milk, after a cow has calved, until the ninth milking. The cow's milk is not in a normal condition for some time after a calf is born, but doubtless it is the old reverence for the mystical number nine that accounts for the time designated in the rule. For properties of the first milk or colostrum, see Buck, of. cit., p. 43. 909. Against pain in the neck. "One should bind unwashed stockings which some one has worn about four weeks during the sweaty season (summer), about the neck; it helps." - Buck, op. cit., p. 45. CHAPTER VIII. 914. This of course rests on the biblical account of the creation of man, Genesis ii. 21. Some twenty-five or thirty years ago in a prosperous school for young ladies in Greenfield, Mass., a scientifically trained woman was giving a course of lectures to a class in anatomy and physiology. Some of the teachers also came in from time to time to hear the lectures. At the close of a talk about the human skeleton, the teacher of French in the school came to the physiology instructor to ask a question. She wanted to know if it was really true that a man had one less rib than a woman on account of the first man having been robbed of one rib for the creation of woman. The French teacher said she had always understood that to be the case, but wished to know with certainty from some one thoroughly trained in anatomy. 9I6. This superstition is widely spread both in the United States and in the Canadian provinces. Some years ago a woman from New Brunswick, half nurse and half housekeeper, told me as true a story in which this superstition was the important fact. Afterwards I took pains to question various persons of considerable intelligence, and found several who were familiar with the tale, and most of them supposed it to be true. I have traced the story here and there all the way I54 Notes. from Salem, Mass., to Michigan. One young physician doubted not its verity. In the different variants of the story there are usually two singular coincidences. The young woman who is said to have brought forth puppies is described as the only daughter of a wealthy man, and the father is a large Newfoundland dog. The idea that women can bring forth non-human offspring must have originated among savages, to whom such monstrous births seem credible enough. They are still common in fairy tales, and the natural history of even the seventeenth century found in them interesting matter for discussion. See Aldrovandus's book on Monsters.- Aldrovandi, U., Monstrorum Historia, Bononiae, I632. An English housekeeper, a cockney, related to me as a curious fact in natural history the following account: - ' There was once a woman shipwrecked on a desert island, where there were no human beings, but a great many large apes. All of the crew and the passengers were lost except this one woman. After a while one of the apes took her for his wife and was very kind to her, and she lived with him for a good many years, and they had a number of children. They were all of them a good deal like little apes. Now the woman kept watching always for vessels to see if she could get a chance to be taken off the island. And one day while the great ape that was her husband was away in the forest getting something for them to eat, a vessel came in sight, and the woman made signals to come and take her from the island. And a boat came and took her off, and just as they began to pull away from the shore, the ape came back and ran far out into the water screaming after her. And when the sailors only rowed away the faster, he ran back to the shore in a rage and seized the children and dashed their brains out on the stones." All such stories are but illustrations of the survival of the old and widespread belief in the essential kinship of man and the lower animals. See the remarks on this subject and a partial bibliography of its literature in Andrew Lang's Introduction to the translation of Grimm's Household Tales, London, 1884, pp. xii., lvii., lxxi., lxxii. 918. A dozen or more intelligent girls in a Massachusetts college were discussing the nature of the donkey. One of the young ladies told me that the great majority of the students believed that donkeys were the young of mules. This incident recalled to my mind much that I have personally observed concerning the ignorance of women about mules. It seems almost incredible, but I know absolutely that many intelligent country matrons and their daughters are positively ignorant as to the genesis of a mule. When I was a girl of eighteen or nineteen, I visited a young married woman living in a very provincial part of northern Ohio. She had overheard some conversation between her husband and a farmer-neighbor that had aroused her curiosity concerning the origin of mules. Too modest to ask her husband about the matter, she asked me if I knew anything about mules. She said she was sure there was something very mysterious about them. I had never happened to consider the question before, and immediately upon going home asked my father to tell me. I asked the question in the presence of a woman relative, a very intelligent, common-sense person. She gave me a horrified glance and left the room. My father in a few words simply cleared up the whole matter. This is only one of many illustrations of cases in which mock modesty among women leads to the most inexcusable and idiotic ignorance. Twenty, twenty-five, and thirty years ago I know that but a small proportion of women who attended the country or state fairs were in the habit of visiting the " stock" on exhibition, and that was not wholly on account of their lack of interest in the animals, but in many instances I am sure it was because it was popularly counted rather a bold thing to make the round of the stalls or pens where the horses, cattle, sheep, and Notes. I55 so on stood. A young lady who would go with her father or brother to see the fine live-stock on exhibition was very likely to have some female friend or relative say, " I should think you would be ashamed." To what extent the same condition of mind to-day prevails, I cannot with accuracy say. See note to No. 682 925. See Adolf Wuttke, o5. cit., p. 416. Also Burne, op. cit., p. 210. 927. Is this because the heifer is thought to be too young to rear strong offspring? Or is it possibly a survival of the old Jewish sacrificing of the firstborn? 928. The belief that a cat may suck the breath of a sleeping child is so prevalent, even among intelligent people, that I have been impelled to consult more than one physician on the subject. The testimony of really learned physicians has been universally against any such possibility. One professor from the Harvard Medical School said doubtless it would not be wise to leave a cat in the room with a sleeping infant, as the cat, being fond of warmth, naturally might squat or recline upon the breast of the child, and by its weight inconvenience it, or, if the cat's lungs by chance were tuberculous, as is often the case, it might be even dangerous to the child. Cats ought not to be kept in a nursery. If a child swallowed a cat's hair, it would cause consumption. (Syria and Egypt.) The hair of a cat, if swallowed by a human being, will turn into a kitten inside the body of him who swallows it. (Cumberland, England.) One should not leave children alone with cats, as the cats mistake the throbbing veins in the neck of the child for mice, and bite them through, so that the child dies. - Buck, of. cit., p. 47. 938. See Sir Thomas Browne, ofi. cit., bk. iii. chap. xxvii. 951. The mole was once a very proud lady, that walked on earth, "but now I have to mole in the ground, but now I 'm moling from morning till night." Never look too high, but look forward and low. (Chestertown, Md., negro.) 957. A fairly intelligent woman in Waltham, Mass., declares that she has seen, in New Hampshire, the ground white with the quills thrown by porcupines. A woman in the same city who came from Halifax, N. S., reports that her father's finger was once very sore from the wound caused by a porcupine quill thrown by the animal. The same woman tells that she well remembers when she was a little girl she once met a porcupine on a woody hillside, and, knowing the terrible power the animal possessed of defending himself, she ran away. Looking back she saw the porcupine showering his quills after her. She thinks the porcupine was able to shoot his quills about three yards. Quill-darting Porcupines and Rackoones bee, Castelld in the hollows of an aged tree. -William Wood, New England's Prospiect, i634, facsimile edition, p. 21. Also, "The Porcupine is a small thing not much unlike a Hedgehog; something bigger, who stands upon his guard and proclaims a Noli me tangere, to man and beast, that shall approach too neare to him, darting his quills into their legges and hides." - Of. cit., p. 24. 960. A year or two ago there was a very earnest discussion among a group of college girls regarding the nature of mice. The majority of the young ladies firmly believed that mice were young rats. 963. The word rank as thus used generally conveys the idea of extreme virulence. But among the boys of Portsmouth, N. H., sixty years or more ago, the word was used as a sort of palliative. Thus it was a common thing to say: " Ink ain't poison, it's just rank poison." I56 Notes. 964. Dr. Charles C. Abbott, at Trenton (N. J.) Academy, was " punished for asserting that a whale was not a fish, the teacher insisting that it was, 'on the authority of Scripture."' " The whale is the largest of all fish." - Pomet, op. cit., ii. 57. 965. See Sir Thomas Browne, op. cit., bk. iii. chap. xxvii. Also article on " The Booming of the Bittern," Bradford Torrey in The Auk, vol. vi. No. I, p. I, et seq. 978. It is customary to cut the tails both of ducklings and goslings. It is said to make their backs strong. (Armagh, Ireland.) 980. Round eggs hatch into hens, long eggs into roosters. (Armagh, Ireland.) 983. In western Norway they say eggs set on Sunday will all hatch into roosters. 984. See Sir Thomas Browne, op. cit., bk. iii. chap. xxviii. 987. Goose-eggs (and probably other eggs) should always be marked with a cross before setting. (Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland.) All domestic fowls are supposed to turn their eggs daily while sitting. Hens cannot turn goose eggs, and so the latter should be turned by hand daily when hens are sitting on them. (Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland; also northern Ireland.) 988. Thunder will prevent eggs that are set to hatch from hatching. Put a bit of iron under the nest to counteract the influence. (Northern Ireland.) 989. In winter the wild ducks make letters of the alphabet, flying.- George Meredith, Harry Richmond. 996. This is the same lizard that is called by the negroes " skyarpin " and told to show its money-bags, that is, to puff out its throat. See No. 701. Lizards and salamanders are generally confounded. The former are not common in the most northerly States, so that there and in Canada " lizard" means salamander. IooI. Perhaps this is because they understand the speech of other animals, for in North Germany it is believed that he who eats snake flesh can understand the speech of birds. - Wuttke, op5. cit., p. I Io. I002. See No. 860. 1003. See Sir Thomas Browne, op. cit., bk. iii. chap. xxviii. 1004. A stalwart young man has been known to faint because he thought the breath of a blow-snake which his companion was teasing had reached him. 1007. A Mexican shepherd was troubled for a long time by the devil coming at night and talking to him. The devil wanted him to move his camp, but the shepherd could not talk to the fiend, as the latter spoke in "American." At last the man was riding along the road and a large rattlesnake crossed his path. He was at first very much frightened, but after a while went back and killed it. He was never troubled by the devil after that, and supposed the evil spirit to be in the snake. (Ranch on the Rio Pecos, Texas.) Ioo9. This is firmly believed in Australia, and a melodramatic poem, "The Dukite Snake," by John Boyle O'Reilly, founded upon incidents said to have occurred there, confirms the superstition. i oi. The following extract from a local paper of June 20, I887, was sent by a Kokomo, Ind., correspondent to President D. S. Jordan, then of Indiana State University, and by him forwarded to me:"A SNAKE STORY. "We confess in advance we never had any faith in snake stories, but the one we are about to relate comes to us so well authenticated that it must be true. At all events, we heard a man say it was, and men living in a gas town never lie, you Notes. I57 know. The story runs as follows: A farmer living in the northern part of the country had an extra fine Shorthorn cow, with a calf about three months old running with her. Some two or three weeks ago he noticed that the calf was growing thin and without any apparent cause. After the calf was reduced to a mere skeleton and the farmer had satisfied himself that the cow's yield of milk was not failing, and nothing about the calf indicated any disease that would cause the trouble, he determined to solve the mystery by watching the pair; so he secreted himself near by for that purpose. Now here's where the snake part of the story comes in. The calf had fairly commenced drawing the lacteal fluid when a huge snake came out of the bushes near by and coiled itself around the hind legs of the cow just above the knees, leaving about a foot of its tail and the same length of head end free to act. The snake then by a quick movement jerked the teat from the calf's mouth and substituted its tail in place of it; after which the snake proceeded to appropriate the milk, while the calf was trying its best to obtain sustenance from a dry suck on the adverse end of his snakeship." ioi6. The stories of the hoop-snake told by the early settlers are innumerable. Even now they are frequently told by the Appalachian mountaineers, and apparently they are still believed. 1020. The fables about joint-snakes may be explained by misconceptions based on the way in which a common legless lizard, the Opheosaurus ventralis, is broken t6 bits by a slight blow. There is a curious account of a "joint-snake" about twenty inches long, which, at a slight blow, broke up into three or four inch joints, each joint having at its front end five fleshy processes like the neck of a strawberry, and holes on the other end into which the processes fitted. The snake had gone when the observer returned. He saw this twice. - Henry J. Philpot, Des Moines, Iowa, Popular Science Monthly, February, 1887, xxx. 1024. This was explained by an uneducated man as being due to the fact that "hogs have no veins," that is, the blood-vessels could not be reached by the fangs of the snake. It is true that blood-vessels are scantily supplied to the masses of fat in the jowl, which the snake would probably strike at. There is much curious matter about rattlesnakes in an article, "The Rattlesnake and its Congeners, Harjer's Monthly Magazine, x. 470-483. I029. This belief, as regards the snake, is susceptible of an anatomical explanation. 1031. "It is commonly believed that the head of our common large snapperturtle, such as frequent our large inland ponds, when severed from the body, will live until sunset and then expire. " Being one afternoon in a.saloon in Lawrence where an old cook, quite famous for his snapper-turtle soups, was employed, I saw lying on a table the head of a large snapper-turtle which had been cut off from the body some hours. Upon inquiry how long it would probably live, the old cook replied that it would live until sunset and then expire. As it lacked only a few minutes of that time, I had the curiosity to wait and see the result, when, true enough, just as the factory bells commenced ringing, at sunset, the head gave a gasp and life was extinct. How much of this was mere chance I cannot say. I only relate what I saw, but the old cook said he had seen this same thing happen hundreds of times." - From a correspondent in Lawrence, Mass. 1032. A turtle went on the war-path. He was surprised and captured. His captors suggested many kinds of ways of killing him, but he showed no fear of the ways proposed until one of them said, " Let's drown him." Then he began to cry and beg piteously, but he was picked up and thrown into a deep lake. He I58 Notes. sank down to the bottom and then came up again and defied the captors. Then to recapture the turtle the otter was sent after him. He bit the otter and held him prisoner until it thundered. He kept him all winter. - An Omaha myth, narrated by Francis La Flesche. 1035. All such notions depend on the fact, well known to comparative physiologists, that muscular contractility in reptiles lasts for an extraordinarily long time after the animal has been decapitated or dismembered. Dr. Austin Flint, Jr., says: "In one instance, in an experiment on a large alligator, we found the heart pulsating, in situ, twenty-eight hours after the animal had been killed by the injection of a solution of woorara. The heart was then excised. and continued to beat during a long series of experiments." - Text-Book of Human Physiology, New York, 1876. 1044. A dead body must be thrown overboard as soon as possible, or a whale will follow the ship to get it. - Irish immigrants from County Cork. 1045. Thor tried to catch Loki when in the form of a salmon, but Loki slipped away and Thor could only hold him by the tail; therefore has the salmon so pointed a tail. - Thorpe's Northern Mythology, i. 78. 1048. See Nos. 657-665. I050. "There is found in the Summer a kind of Spider called a Tainct, of a red colour, and so little of body that ten of the largest will hardly outweigh a grain: this by country people is accounted a deadly poison unto Cows and Horses." - Sir Thomas Browne, op. cit., bk. iii. chap. xxvii. 1051. Evidently the name of the doodle-bug (ant-lion) is called as the most likely means of putting the ants to flight. io52. The reason assigned for this procedure (where any is given) is that the noise makes it impossible for the bees to hear the humming of the queen, and so they are at a loss which way to fly and settle at once. See, also, Brand, ofp. cit., iii. 225. 1054. This is only part of a general ceremony that used to be observed on such occasions. " Wenn jemand in einem hause stirbt, so mussen menschen und vieh sogleich geweckt werden. wenn dies nicht geschieht, den verniinftigen und unverninftigen creaturen nicht gleich der todesfall tekannt gemacht wird, so miissen sie auch sterben. wenn man nicht gleich die gerdthschaften oder den handwerkszeug des verstorbenem in bewegung setzt, so haben die geschafte nachher keinen guten fortgang.... welche bienen haben, diesen thierchen den todihres herrn anzeigen. - Quoted from a Wunderbiichlein, Kempten, i8o6, in Friedrich Panzer's Bayerische Sagen und Brauche, Miinchen, I848, ii. 293, 294. Io6I. Dragon-flies are called (devil's) darning needles or needles. It is said that they will suck your blood and kill you. (Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland.) The dragon-fly is called " troll spindle." (Sweden.) 1067. The presence of a dragon-fly shows that an adder is near. - Burne, of. cit., p. 239. 1078. In England the name earwig is applied to insects of the genus Forficula. In America small myriopods only are called earwigs. io8o. This little crustacean was thought by Pliny and Aristotle to be the guardian of the oyster. 1084. This is also said in Swabia. See Wuttke, op. cit., p. 65. 1087. This is also believed very circumstantially in Iceland, e. g. the walrus represents the cow, the seal an enchanted prince, the mermaid a woman, and so on. To some extent throughout the United States, but more particularly in New England, the word "animal " in common parlance is restricted in its application to the larger mammalian quadrupeds. I have seen persons smile at hearing an insect or Notes. I59 some small creature, as a bat, spoken of as an animal. Therefore when it is said that every kind of land animal is found represented in the sea, it does not mean every species of animal existing on land, but only the large familiar mammals. I09I. Swallow a black snake's blood warm and drink whiskey upon it, and it will enable you to do more work than any one else. (Chestertown, Md., negro.) To swallow the heart of a black snake will make one "valiant." (Chestertown, Md., negro. Actually done.) "With viands prepared from snakes or serpents a person procured strength, wisdom, or success in war, for any favorite individual." -Thorpe, op. cit., p. 2 6. See, also, Lubbock's Origin of Civilization, London, i882, pp. 19, 20. Lubbock states that this belief is held by East Indians, Dyaks, Caribs, Dacotahs, Arabs, Siberian natives, Kaffirs, Chinese, and New Zealanders. "There is a common superstition with them (Algonkin tribes) that he who tastes of the body of a brave man acquires a part of his valor, and if he can eat of his heart, the centre of all courage, his share of bravery is greater.... Captain Wells, who was killed in the vicinity of Chicago in 1812, and was celebrated for his valor among the Indian tribes, was divided into many parts and sent to all the allied tribes, that all might have an opportunity to get a taste of the courageous white man." -Rushton M. Dorman, Origin of Primitive Superstitions, Philadelphia, i88I, p. 145. (Summarized from Keating.) The same superstition was held among the Anglo-Saxons, witness the use "ad concubitum perficiendum... testiculos tauri siccatos," and so on, swallowed in wine as a philter. - Cockayne, op. cit., i. 369. The author also cites similar prescriptions on pp. 337, 359. 1099. Ptarmigan feathers prolong the death struggle. See Arnason, op. cit.,.p. 641. See, also, Brand, op. cit., ii. 230, 231. I I I2. All eels come from horsehairs. If you put a horsehair in the water, in one hour it will be so slimy and slippery it will be hard to get out, and in two weeks it will be an eel, with eyes, ears, etc., ready to eat. (County Cork, Ireland.) 1113. Horsehairs turn into snakes. (County Sligo, Ireland.) Horsehairs, when put into water, turn into worms. (Ireland and Scotland.) 1121. It is very generally believed among the Irish peasantry in the neighborhood of Macroom, County Cork, Ireland, that medicine of any sort is made of dead men. Some persons have a horror of taking doctor's medicine because they believe it to be thus concocted. Corpses taken by body-snatchers from the grave are popularly supposed to be used by doctors in manufacturing medicines. 1123. The connection between lightning and milk is further shown by the German superstition that fire kindled by lightning can only be extinguished by milk. Wuttke, op5. cit., p. I 2 1. 1127. This belief is so general that the manufacturers of one of the leading brands of baking powder recently endeavored to injure the reputation of the rival product by advertising the fact that the latter contained ammonia, and must therefore be nasty. In tracing the genesis of the many popular errors concerning the powers and attributes of animals, he who wishes to go at all into detail will need to consult all the classical writers on natural history subjects, from Aristotle onward. Much may be learned in regard to their supposed psychological and ethical characteristics from the mediaeval bestiaries and from collections of popular proverbs. Hardly any one work contains so much that is interesting in the way of animallore, masquerading in the dress of zoology, as the writings of Aldrovandus. - Aldrovandi Opera, Bononie, 1599-1668. i6o Notes. CHAPTER IX. 1128. Our mountain ash seems to be the fully accredited representative in this country of the virtues of the European species. See Napier, op. cit., pp. 79-8I. II36. See Napier, off. cit., pp. 125, 126. Peasants of lower Saxony, when about to cut elder, pray three times with folded hands:Frau Ellhorn, gib mir was von deinem Holz; Dann will ich dir von meinem auch was geben Wann es wachst im Walde. -Grimm, off. cit., ii. 652. A similar usage prevails in Denmark. - Thorpe, Scandinavian Mythology, p. i68. 1146. I have myself known of more than one intelligent person trying, half in jest, half in earnest, this popular charm for the cure of rheumatism. Sometimes the same potato is carried for years in the pocket of a rheumatic person. Naturally, as the potato dries, it grows hard. Many believe this is owing to the absorption of the disease. As the potato becomes stiff and hard, it is supposed the muscles or joints of the sufferer will grow pliable and limber. A stolen potato (taken when no one is looking), carried in the breeches pocket, will cure rheumatism and gout. (North Hesse, Nassau, and Westphalia, Germany.) A raw potato carried in the pocket was regarded as a protection against rheumatism. -Napier, op. cit., p. 4. "They pick the canker-roses off the briers and carry them in the pocket as a certain preventive of rheumatism." - Richard Jefferies, Round About a Great Estate, London, I88I. I I55. On transference of diseases to trees, see Thorpe's Northern Mythology, London, 1852, iii. I64-I66, 334. See, also, Wuttke, op. cit., p. 3IO. I66. Some such processes for the cure of ruptures are widely practised and of considerable antiquity. See Gilbert White's Natural History of Selborne, letter 28; also Thorpe, op. cit., p. 173, and Black, op. cit., pp. 67, 68. II68. Probably because the elder keeps away witches. See The Folk-Lore of Plants, T. F. Thiselton Dyer, New York, I889, pp. 62, 63. 1172. To cure the toothache: "Take a new nail, and make the gum bleed with it, and then drive it into an oak. This did cure William Neal's Son, a very stout gentleman, when he was almost mad with the pain, and had a mind to have pistolled himself." - Aubrey's Miscellanies, 4th ed., London, 1857, p. 138. II73. The principle of burying something which shall take the disease away with it and the importance of complying with some prescribed number in working curative charms, are features of constant occurrence everywhere. Witness the following: - For toothache take as many beans as you are years old, split each on a pin, and roast one half of each one. Then take them to a roadside idol and ask it to cure the toothache until the beans grow. Then plant the beans near the idol. (Island of Kiu Shiu, Japan.) See, also, Brand, op. cit., "Chapter on Physical Charms." Also Reginald Scot, op. cit., passim. Also Wuttke, of. cit., p. 311. 1179. In all probability the complete rule for practising this remedial charm would require the person to go around the tree in either a right-handed or a lefthanded direction. II80. See note to II28. Notes. i6I xI8i. Netherlandish children divine with a dandelion to see how old they will live to be or what o'clock it is, also girls to see whether their lovers love them, "Yes, - a little - much- no." - Thorpe, op. cit., iii. 332. 1183. For many interesting facts in regard to the history of the divining rod, see S. Baring-Gould's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. " Divination by the rod or wand is mentioned in the prophecy of Ezekiel. Hosea, too, reproaches the Jews with being infected with the like superstition.... Not only the Chaldeans used rods for divination, but almost every nation which has pretended to that science has practised the same method. Herodotus mentions it as a custom of the Alain, and Tacitus of the old Germans." - Brand, op. cit., iii. 332, Bohn's ed., London, I849. See, also, the reprint Gentleman's Magazine Library, Popular Superstitions, London, 1884, pp. I48-152. II84. The hazel is not unnaturally chosen for this use, since it enjoys a considerable reputation for magical power in various parts of Europe, e.g.in Ireland, in Italy, according to De Gubernatis, Mythologie des Plantes, Paris, 1882, ii. 240, and in Germany, as evidenced by Grimm's " Story of the Hazel Branch," Household Tales, London, I884, pp. 371, 372. See, also, Deutsche Pflanzensagen, Anton Ritter von Perger, Stuttgart, I864, pp. 241-248. According to an old Wunderbiichlein printed at Kempten in I8o6, the best divining rod is a hazel twig cut on St. John's night, between eleven and twelve o'clock. - Quoted by Friedrich Panzer, Bayerische Sagen und Brauche, Miinchen, I848, p. 296. 1187. In the chapter on " Projects " in Current Superstitions (the fourth Memoir of the American Folk-Lore Society), there was printed quite a number of love charms in which use was made of plants. Such love charms logically should have been reserved for the present work, but at the time there was so much uncertainty regarding the publication of the animal and plant lore of the writer's collection, that there was a temptation to extend the legitimate limits of the chapter on " Projects " in Current Superstitions. 1191. Apparently the use of southernwood in love divinations is somewhat related to the long-lasting belief in its power as an aphrodisiac. See note i86. II95. This divination is most evidently imported from Great Britain. Compare:Green 'Arrow, Green 'Arrow, you bears a white blow; If my love love me my nose will bleed now; If my love don't love me, it 'ont bleed a drop; If my love do love me, 'twill bleed ivery drop. — Suffolk rhyme, Britten and Holland, Dictionary of English Plant-Names, London, I878, i. 17. This and other uses of the yarrow in love divinations may be connected with its supposed medicinal virtues as described in Cockayne, of. cit. For another divination with yarrow, see No. 262 of Memoirs of American Folk-Lore Society, vol. iv., Current Superstitions. CHAPTER X. 1201. No girl will get married unless she finds a five-leaved clover. (Near Stockholm, Sweden.) 1208. Fruit-trees blooming out of season indicate disaster, probably death. (Northern Ireland.) Any plant blooming in late autumn foretells the death of the head of the family within a year. - Rivista delle Tradizioni Poipolari Italiani, i. 72. ' ev *n a T r ~<-~>cT ~" i62 Notes. I213. It is counted unlucky to have ivy grow on a house. It is a saying among country people, "The house where the ivy grows will surely fall." (County Armagh, North of Ireland.) 1222. These plants, from their unpleasant appearance and vile odor, have everywhere excited the curiosity and imagination of the ignorant. In Germany the immature spheroidal form of the fungus is called Hexenei and is used in the preparation of a philter, while the full-grown plant is taken as an aphrodisiac. - Anton Ritter von Perger, op. cit., p. 21o. 1223. A correspondent writes: " My sister knew a Massachusetts woman about twenty years ago who never allowed her bush to blossom on that account." 1224. " Sassafras or black locust must never be burned, and the stick used to stir the soft soap in the kettle should always be of pine or sassafras."- James Mooney, loc. cit. Throughout the Central and Southern States there is a somewhat general saying among men of the rougher sort that they would like to be buried in a sassafras coffin, "so as to go through hell a-cracking." The wood snaps violently in burning. CHAPTER XI. 1233. Plenty of haws foretell a severe winter; i. e. they have been stored up as food for the birds. (England, recent.) " It is an observation amongst country people that years of store of haws and hips do commonly portend cold winters: and they ascribe it to God's providence that, as the Scripture saith, reaches even to the falling of a sparrow." -Bacon, Natural History, century vii. sect. 737. I239. When the pimpernel, "The poor man's weather-glass," closes its blossoms, it foretells rain. (England.) For a discussion of the limits of its value as an indicator of rain, see Richard Jefferies, Round About a Great Estate, London, I891, p. 130. CHAPTER XII. I249. The common name "heal-all" indicates that medicinal powers have been pretty generally attributed to this plant in the United States. A cursory examination of Britten and Holland's Dictionary of English Plant-Names affords no evidence that the plant is there valued as a remedy. Nicholas Culpepper, however, in his English Physician Enlarged, London (no date), attributes to it great virtue in healing many kinds of wounds and inflammations, concluding his panegyric upon it with the words: "And the proverb of the Germans, French, and others is verified in this, That he needeth neither physician nor surgeon that hath Self-heal and Sanicle to help himself." - Pp. 278, 279. I258. This is but one of various popular modes of "giving a sweat" to a patient. Apparently the importance of securing abundant perspiration (and a proper care afterwards to prevent taking cold) is often thought to be secondary to the method to be followed. Medicinal virtues would seem to be attributed to this or that substance employed. In Eastern Massachusetts I have known of the following directions being advised and followed to relieve an abscess at the root of a tooth:" Put a stick of stove-wood on the fire until it is all ablaze. Then quench the flames, wrap the steaming, charred wood in a cloth, and place near the face of the sufferer." Notes. I63 I fancy that some remedial power was thought to be in the steam produced in this particular way. It almost seems as if the more inconvenient the manner, the greater the efficacy of these folk-recipes for producing active perspiration. I260. See Bulletin No. 23, West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, by C. F. Millspaugh. According to Cockayne (op. cit., i. 275) Sambucus nigra was used by the Saxons to make an ointment for inflamed eyes. The list of herb teas prescribed for various complaints is too long to enumerate in full. Among them are those made from anise, coriander, pennyroyal, thyme, bergamot, horehound, peppermint, spearmint, balm (Monarda and Melissa), catnip, sage, tansy, and sassafras. Doubtless many of these are useful in mild ailments, but I have been told by competent physicians that some of these home remedies may do great harm when administered by one utterly ignorant of disease and of the ultimate effects of powerful herbs. 1267. The sweet flag (Acorus Calamus) is probably still considerably employed in domestic medicine, though the use cited is the only one that has come under the notice of the writer. The remedy was most highly esteemed by early practitioners, as far back as the time of Dioscorides, who praises its efficacy for relieving pains of the lungs, as an antidote for snake-bites, and for poisons in general. - O5. cit., bk. i. chap. ii. 1280. The tradition that "spring medicine" is desirable as a tonic is too well known to need extensive comment. Doubtless there may be a certain basis of common sense in the notion so widely spread, that every person is the better for a course of bitters every spring. The indoor life, often in earlier times with scant fruit in the diet, the exhaustive effects of severe cold in poorly heated and ill ventilated homes, left many persons more or less debilitated at the opening of spring. In such cases any tonic that might arouse a wholesome appetite would certainly have beneficial results on the patient. The one requirement in these home-made remedies was and is that the medicine must be bitter. I imagine in the popular mind there is a vague belief that this " bitter principle," as I heard one old wiseacre express it, has the same invigorating effect, no matter if the bitter taste in decoctions made from various herbs is due to the presence of substances decidedly unlike one another and whose effects on the human system would be correspondingly different. The phloridzin of wild cherry bark and the gentianin of gentian roots respectively furnish the desired flavor to well-known home-made bitters, but their therapeutic effects are certainly not identical. Among the extraordinary assemblage of fruits, barks, and roots that are used either singly or in various combinations in preparing " bitters " are wild cherries, wild hops, prickly ash berries and bark, wild cherry bark, wahoo bark, the roots of dandelion, gentian, sarsaparilla, sassafras, goldthread, yellow dock, and elecampane. The various ingredients are usually put into some alcoholic liquor, and it is more than likely that the popularity of these home-made tonics is in great part due to the apparent invigorating effect of the liquor used. 1286. Evidently the magic number three has more to do with the cure than the kind of leaves selected. Compare the medicinal decoction of seven roots used in an Italian folk-remedy. - A. De Nino, Usi e Costumi A bruzzesi, Florence, I891, part v. p. io6. Again, nine plants are used to compound into a sort-of charm remedy. One of the most complicated of these consisted of: - 164 Notes. Iarum. Origanum. Herba benedicta. Allium. Nigella. Nabelkiatut. Excrementa diaboli. Succisa. It will be seen that the initial letters spell the name IOHANNES and the plants were to be collected on St. John's Day. -Anton Ritter von Perger, op. cit., PP. 45-49. See, also, Dr. A. Wuttke, op. cit., p. 87. I289. Splinters from an oak split by lightning cure toothache. -Ennemoser's History of Magic, Bohn's ed., ii. 208. To cure toothache, prick the gum until blood is drawn with a splinter taken from a tree which has been struck by lightning, then replace the splinter in the tree. (Livonia, near Riga, Russia.) 1292. " Streiptopus roseus I learned to call Scoot-berry long before I understood why it was so called. The sweetish berries were quite eagerly eaten by boys, always acting as physic; and as the diarrhcea was locally called ' the scoots,' the plant at once received the name. Whether it still survives I doubt; but if a family of boys had gone out and established homes on farms in different parts of the country, such a name would be likely to have received extensive currency." (Gilsum, N. H.) -Rev. Silvanus Hayward, Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. iv. No. 13. 1295. This is one of the very few aphrodisiacs of the use of which I have been able to learn. Among the ignorant, and particularly the Southern negroes, a good many potions are made and administered for the purpose of securing the love of the opposite sex, but it is usually difficult to obtain the formula for such preparations. These are often of animal origin and sometimes of too disgusting a character to be quotable. One, apparently of German origin, from the south part of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, was not unlike the following Italian recipe:"Si raffredino due amici o due innamorati, basta far mangiare all' uno lo stereo dell' altro seccato e poi ridotto a polvere finissima." (La Basilicata, Italy.) - Dr. M. Pasquarelli in Rivista delle Tradizioni Popolari Italiani, i. 639. The fact that Spiranthes is an orchidaceous plant would seem to point to a British origin for the superstition here quoted, for orchids have for centuries figured prominently as aphrodisiacs and as of phallic significance in British folklore. See Gerarde's or Parkinson's or Turner's Herbal, also Britten and Holland, op. cit., index, under " Orchis," p. 596, and also p. 23. Josselyn says: " I once took notice of a wanton woman's compounding the solid roots of this plant (Satyrion, probably = Habenaria) with wine for an amorous cup; which wrought the desired effect." -John Josselyn, Rarities, London, 1672, p. 42. Probably much of this lore may have originated independently in various places and at different times, in accordance with the familiar doctrine of signatures. Certainly the gross popular imagination was attracted by this group of plants at an early period, as is evidenced by the name gpxls, applied to the plant by the Greeks, and the remarks of Dioscorides upon it. - Op. cit., bk. iii. chaps. cxxiv. cxxv. Liverwort (Hepatica triloba or H. acutiloba) is used in the Carolina Mountains Notes. x65 as a love philter and hence known as heart-leaf. -" Folk-Lore of the Carolina Mountains, James Mooney, Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. ii. No. 5. The reader who cares to know more of the reputed aphrodisiacs will find them mentioned or discussed in John Gay's Epistle to a Young Lady with some Lampreys, in the old herbals, in G. Lammert's Volks-Medizin u. medizinischer Aberglaube in Bayern, Wiirzburg, I869; in Dr. M. R. Buck, op. cit.; Dr. A. Wuttke, op. cit., and Pliny, op. cit., lib. xxx. 1297. All plants with milky juice are thought to be poisonous, so the dandelion would not be eaten. (West Norway.) I300. See Von Perger, op. cit., p. 152. I301. Creoles of Cuba and the southern United States think that a necklace strung of alternate garlics and limes or small lemons will prevent yellow fever. Never leave a cut or peeled onion in the house. It is a sure sign of ill luck. Carried or worn, however, it will keep off disease. (Isle of Jersey.) The use of the onion in domestic medicine is only a survival of its once general employment by practitioners, as described by Galen, Dioscorides, Matthiolus, and others. 1306. Although Pastinaca sativa is believed to be poisonous when growing wild, a physician in Wisconsin recently ate a hearty meal of parsnips (growing wild for fifty years) with no unfavorable consequences. Cases of poisoning are known or thought to be referable to other Umbelliferce. 1308. Pepper-corns are also mentioned among folk-remedies for intermittent fevers in Swabia by Dr. Buck, of. cit., p. 39. 1309. See Von Perger, op. cit., pp. 175, I76. I313. In parts of New England, New York, Ohio, and westward as far as Kansas, it is customary for country people to go, as soon as the frost is thoroughly out of the ground, to dig sassafras roots, of which to make tea. Very often boys and girls will make a neighborhood expedition to go on an early spring day and search for and dig sassafras roots. If there is an old or infirm neighbor who is unable to go to the woods or fields to secure these roots, it is counted a pretty neighborhood courtesy to leave a little bundle of roots for such a person. Sometimes a family substitute this drink instead of tea or coffee at meal time. Milk and sugar are frequently used with it, for a week or two or more; others only use it as a medicinal drink between meals. In the preparation of the tea the roots are carefully washed, peeled, and the bark cut up into small bits, and steeped. Many years ago in the backwoods of central Missouri a traveller called at a farmhouse and asked if he could have dinner. The woman of the house served him such plain fare as she could. It was early in the spring, when the family were having their annual potations of sassafras tea. The woman asked the traveller if he would have a cup instead of coffee, saying, " We think it is good to thin the blood." The man replied, " I don't care for any. My blood is so damned thin I can hardly walk now." I315. Doubtless an illustration of the Doctrine of Signatures; the spot on the leaf being somewhat heart-shaped suggests that the plant may possess remedial virtues for heart disease. 1317. The subject of vegetable antidotes for snake-bites is an extensive one. Gray's Manual of Botany gives the name Snakeroot to six species of plants, Cimicifuga racemosa, Eryngium Yucccefolium, Sanicula (perhaps two species), Liatris (perhaps several species), Polygala Senega, Aristolochia Serjpentaria, and Eupatorium ageratoides. In all these cases the name is presumably given because the plant is supposed to be efficacious against snake-bites. C. E. Hobbs in his Botanical Handbook, Boston, I876, gives twenty-six species of snakeroot. i66 Notes. In a good many instances it would seem to be pretty clear that the remedy is chosen on the basis of the Doctrine of Signatures, as is apparently the case with the Cimicifuga, which has a long raceme of pods not unlike in appearance the rattles of a rattlesnake.,Goodyera pubescens is quite generally known as rattlesnake plantain, probably from its mottled leaves. It is a striking-looking plant, therefore (the popular mind argues) it must have some remarkable properties. It was once recommended by country people for the cure of bites of mad dogs. - Pursh, Flora of North America, London, 1814, p. 590. Other plants, as the yerba de la Vibora, or rattlesnake weed (Dancus fpusillus) of the Pacific Coast, can hardly owe their repute to a resemblance of their parts to any snake. It is commonly believed that the antidotes to the bites of poisonous snakes are providentially made to grow in the regions where such snakes abound. It is worth while to quote the language used in the last century in regard to the curative value of one of the snakeroots, to which is given the scientific name of Aristolochia polyrhizhos auriculatis foliis Virginiana. " It is known to cure the Biting of the Rattle-Snake upon the Spot, which, without this Remedy is for the most part, present Death. The Power, Malignity, and Volatility of the Poison, is not so swift and great, but the Subtility, piercing Qualities and Alexipharmack Virtues of this Medicine yet exceeds it, disappointing all the ill Effects of the viperine Poison, if given in due Time. And without doubt, if it will cure the Biting of the Rattle-Snake, the most malignant and dangerous of all Serpents, it will cure the Bitings of all other Serpents, as well as other poisonous and venomous Beasts whatsoever, and also the Biting of mad Dogs and Wounds made with poison'd Arrows; for which Things it is esteem'd as one of the most valuable Drugs yet discover'd." - Pomet, op. cit., i. 28. See, " On the use of certain plants as Alexipharmics or Snake-bite Antidotes," Daniel Morris, Annals of Botany, November, I887. 1318. This belief in the aphrodisiac qualities of southernwood is very old. Wylliam Turner in his fine old English Herball writes in 1551: (" Some hold that thys herbe (Sothernwode) layd but under a mannys bolster, prouoketh men to the multyplyenge their kynde, and that it is good agaynst chermynge and wychyng of men, which by chermynge are not able to exercise the worke of generacion." The possibility of the production of sterility in men by means of charms was generally recognized in ancient times. Matthiolus in his commentary on Dioscorides, bk. iii. chap. xci. explains that Artemisia is capable of driving away all enchantments. Many of the.common English names for the southernwood seem to have been derived from its supposed aphrodisiac virtues, as for instance: Boy's Love, Kissme-quick-and-go, Lad Savour, Maiden's Ruin, Maid's Love, Old Man, Old Man's Love. - Britten and Holland, of. cit., index, p. 568. See Pliny, op. cit., lib. xxi. cap. xcii. 1328. It is more than doubtful whether this vervain is of any use. It is common in many aguish regions, is bitter and in every way unattractive, and these facts might suffice to account for its having been selected as a remedy. 1330. Changes from plant to animal or the reverse were once matters of common belief, as in the case of the famous barnacle-tree. It has often been stated that "grubs change into briers," a notion derived from the observation of the growth of a fungus (Cordycefs) on certain grubs. See American Journal of Science and Arts, ist series, xii. 26. It is a familiar Japanese saying that the roots of the wild yam (Dioscorea Japonica) change into eels. The Japanese also believe in the change of animals into others of vastly differ Notes. 167 ent structure and affinities. For instance, they say that sparrows, when they get old, go to the seashore, plunge into the water, and are transformed into clams. CHAPTER XIII. I334. Boys plant cowslips and primroses upside down, that they may come variegated. -Richard Jefferies, Round About a Great Estate, London, 1891, p. 145. 1336. The ash was a sacred tree among the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Scandinavians. See De Gubernatis, op. cit., pp. 148, 149; also Grimm, op. cit., p. 1536. In more recent times this tree has been the object of superstitious reverence in Ireland and Scotland. The idea that the ash-tree is especially hated by serpents seems to have come into modern belief from the statements of Pliny, who recommends its sap as a remedy against snake-bites, and says that the power of the tree is so great that serpents will not even remain under its shadow. - Op. cit., lib. xvi. cap. xiii. Reginald Scot speaks of the fear of snakes at the shadow of the ash as though he believed it. - Op. cit., p. 245. Nicholas Culpepper says: " I can justly except against none of this (the remedial value of the ash) save only the first, viz. That Ash-tree tops and leaves are good against the biting of serpents and vipers. I suppose this had its rise from Gerard or Pliny, both of which hold That there is such an antipathy between an adder and an Ash-tree, that if an adder be encompassed round with Ash-tree leaves, she will sooner run through the fire than through the leaves. The contrary to which is the truth, as both my eyes are witness." - Op. cit., p. 23. Not a few people, however, in New England still believe that rattlesnakes have the greatest aversion to ash leaves. The reader may remember how much interest is made to arise from this supposed fact in Dr. Holmes's strange novel, Elsie Venner. Some such virtues must also once have been attributed to the hazel, if one may judge from the epithet, " Snake murthering Hazel." - William Wood, New England's Prospect, 1634, facsimile ed. p. i8. 1339. For a very interesting discussion of the banana fruit and the cross in it, see De Gubernatis, op. cit., pp. 22, 23. 1340. A season perhaps even more dreaded for the same reason is the period of autumn, which Bryant mentions in his " Death of the Flowers: "" In the cold, moist earth we laid her when the forest cast the leaf." 1342. For years the agricultural papers were filled with supposed cases of this transformation. See The Cultivator and Country Gentleman, Albany, N. Y., xxxvii. (I872), 489, 536, 584, 585, 600, 632, 809. Kindred beliefs have a most respectable antiquity for: "' Thus wheat, as Theophrastus testified, changes into darnel, basil into thyme, sisymbrium into sweetscented mint; and many kinds of flowers, unless care is exercised, not only are quickly transformed from their own species but also depart from their native strength and excellence."- Levinus Lemnius, De Occultis Naturre Miraculis, 1590, i. 115. I364. A few other plants in the Middle and Eastern States and at least one Pacific Coast species have received trivial names from their power to act as the Houstonia is supposed to do. In France the dandelion receives its vulgar name for the same reason, and in Germany the same property is attributed to it. See, also, Britten and Holland, op. cit., index, p. 589; also, ibid. p. 383. 168 Notes. 1371. The name caper-tree is doubtless given from the resemblance of the little green fruits to caper-buds. I knew an old Ohio lady who kept one of these poisonous plants and was yearly disappointed that she could not get from it enough capers to pickle. I375. This perhaps refers to the straight embryo found in the middle of the seed. The popular fancy endows this with all the organs of a tree, reduced to microscopic dimensions. I380. This idea is borrowed from British folk-lore. The puff-ball is variously called Blind-ball, Blind-buff, Blind Harry, Blind Man's Ball, etc., in England and Scotland. See Britten and Holland, op. cit., p. 50. 1387. The glittering granules on the leaves of the Rumex Acetosella are probably thought to look like the jeggs (nits) of lice. If this be the reason for the superstition, it is an interesting instance of belief in the Doctrine of Signatures. 1390. Another instance of belief in the Doctrine of Signatures. For a discussion of such fancies, see Thistleton-Dyer, op. cit., chap. xvi. Iv v AUTHO ITI QUOTED MORE THAN ONCE. ARATUS, c epCical A0uoa6^eu. The Skies and Weather-Forecasts of Aratus. Translated by E. Poste. London, I88o. ARNASON, J6N, Icelandic Legends; second series. London, I866. BACON, FRANCIS, Natural History. BARING-GOULD, S., Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. London, I892. BLACK, W. G., Folk-Medicine. London, I883. BRAND, JOHN, Popular Antiquities. London, I849. BRITTEN AND HOLLAND, Dictionary of English Plant-names. London, 1878. BROWNE, SIR THOMAS, Vulgar Errors. London, I686. BUCK, DR. M. R., Medicinischer Volksglauben u, Volksaberglauben aus Schwaben. Ravensburg, I865. BURNE, CHARLOTTE S., Shropshire Folk-Lore. London, I883. CAMPBELL, DUNCAN, Secret Memoirs of the late Mr. Duncan Campbell. London, 1732. COCKAYNE, THOMAS OSWALD, Leechdoms, Wort-cunning, and Star-craft of Early England. London, 1864. CULPEPPER, NICHOLAS, The English Physician Enlarged. London, no date. DE GUBERNATIS, ANGELO, Mythologie des Plantes. Paris, 1882. Zo6logical Mythology. London, 1872. DIOSCORIDES, PEDACIUS, IIepl TAis 'IaTpl1cs, with the Commentaries of Matthiolus. Translated by Pinet. Lyons, I68o. DORMAN, RUSHTON M., Origin of Primitive Superstitions. Philadelphia, I88r. ELWORTHY, FREDERICK T., The Evil Eye. London, I895. ENNEMOSER, JOSEPH, History of Magic. Translated by Wm. Howitt. London, I854. ETTMiLLERI, MICHAELIS, Opera Medica. Francofurti, 1708. FIELDE, ADELE M., Chinese Superstitions. Popular Science Monthly, xxxii. 6. GRIMM, Household Tales, Bohn's Edition (translation). London, 1884. GRIMM, Teutonic Mythology (Stallybrass's translation). London, 1882. HARLAND and WILKINSON, Lancashire Folk-Lore. London, 1867, HOPF, DR. LUDWIG, Thierorakel u. Orakelthiere. Stuttgart, i888. The Husbandman's Practice, or Prognostication for Ever. London, I664, HYDE, DOUGLAS, Irish Gaelic Folk-Stories. London, 189o. JANVIER, T. A., Mexican Superstitions and Folk-Lore. Scribner's Magazine, March, 1889. 170 Authorties quoted more than once. JEFFERIES, RICHARD, Round About a Great Estate. London, 189I. JONES, WILLIAM, Credulities, Past and Present. London, i88o. JOSSELYN, JOHN, Rarities. London, I672. LAMMERT, G., Volksmedizin u. medizinischer Aberglaube in Bayern. Wiirzburg, I869. LEMNIUS, LEVINUS, De Occultis Naturae Miraculis. Francofurti, I590. MOONEY, JAMES, Folk-Lore of the Carolina Mountains. Journal of American Folk-Lore, ii. 5. NAPIER, JAMES, Folk-Lore; or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland. Paisley, I879. PANZER, FRIEDRICH, Bayerische Sagen und Brauche. Miinchen, 1848. PERGER, ANTON, RITTER VON, Deutsche Pflanzensagen. Stuttgart, 1864. PLINY, Natural History (translation). London, I856. POMET, History of Drugs. London, 1748. Rivisita delle Tradizioni Popolari Italiani. Rome, I893. SCOT, REGINALD, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584. Reprint, London, 1886. THEOPHRASTUS OF ERESUS, nriep? nuWv v8draT, etc. On Winds and on WeatherSigns. Translated by James G. Wood. Edited by J. G. Symons. London, 1894. THISELTON-DYER, T. F., The Folk-Lore of Plants. New York, I889. WILDE, LADY FRANCESCA SPERANZA, Ancient Legends of Ireland. London, 1887. WOOD, WILLIAM, New England's Prospect. London, I634. WUTTKE, DR. ADOLF, Der Deutsche Volksaberglaube der Gegenwart. Berlin, 1869. INDEX. INDEX. This Index includes, I. CURRENT SUPERSTITIONS, and II. ANIMAL AND PLANT LORE, being vols. iv. and vii. of Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society. ACTIONS, omens from, i. 134-138. Adam and Eve, ii. Io3. Ague, cures for, ii. 77, 114, 16. Alder in folk-medicine, ii. IIo. various superstitions concerning, ii. 17. Alphabet, letters of, in divinations, i. 48, 49. Ammonia made from urine, ii. 95. Amulets, animal, ii. I -2I. miscellaneous, i. 94, 95. vegetable, ii. 99-IOI. Andromeda, in folk-medicine, ii. I o. Angleworms, in folk-medicine, ii. 70. Animal folk-medicine, ii. 68-79. Animals, amulets from, ii. I -21. charms from, ii. II-21. dreams of, i. 70,71. folk-names of, ii. 61-64. incantations over, ii. 56-60. omens from, ii. 22-42. various beliefs concerning, ii. 80-95. weather omens from, ii. 43-64. Ants, weather omens from, ii. 43, 53. Ant-eaters, animal-name, ii. 62. Ant-lion, formula said to, ii. 56. Anty-mire, animal-name, ii. 62. Apparel, omens from, i. I4I-I43. Apples, love divinations from, i. 38. Apple-parings, i. 38. Apple-seeds, love divinations from, i. 39,40. Apple twigs planted upside down, ii. 117. Ash repels snakes, ii. 117. Aspen leaves, ii. 17. Ass, passing under belly of, cures rupture, ii. 20. Asseverations, i. 26, 27. Attire of bride, i. 59, 6o. Auk, weather omens from, ii. 44. Axe, omens from carrying, i. 125. BABIES, love divination from, i. 40. physiognomy of, i. 22. Babyhood, first actions of, i. 24. introduction to the world, i. 22-24. various beliefs concerning, i. 24, 25. Banana, cross in, ii. I 7. worm in, ii. 117. Baptism, i. 21, 22. Bat, omens from, ii. 23. Bats, formlua said to, ii. 56. Beads as amulets, i. 94. Bear, sucks paws in winter, ii. 80. various superstitions concerning, ii. 80, 8I. weather omens from, ii. 43, 50. Beauty, significance of, i. 32. Beaver, tail of, used as trowel, ii. 8I. weather omens from, ii. 43. Bed, love divinations from, i. 40, 41 omens from, i. 85. Beech-tree kills snakes, ii. I 7. Beehives, ii. 9o. Bees, omens from, ii. 40. rhymes concerning, ii. 57, 9o. various superstitions concerning, ii. 90. weather omens from, ii. 43. Beeswax, dangerous, ii. 93. Beetle, omens from, ii. 40. Begonias, unlucky, ii. o05. Bible, love divination from, i. 41. wishing on, i. 67. Birch brooms unlucky, ii. Io5. Birch in folk-medicine, ii. Io. Birds, folk-names of, ii. 6I. love divinations from, i. 42. omens from, ii. 35-37. various beliefs regarding, ii. 84,85. weather omens from, ii. 47. Birth, superstitions and practices concerning, i. 21, 24. Bite of dog cured by hair or liver, ii. 77. Bittern, note of, ii. 84. Black snake in folk-medicine, ii. 70. Bleeding, to stop, i. 95, 99. Blood, dreaming of, i. 76. in folk-medicine, i. 10o, 104, 105; ii. 68,69. Bloody milk, ii. 34, 38. Blue jay, various superstitions concerning, ii. 85. weather omens from, ii. 45. Bone amulet, ii. II, 12 Bones, lucky, ii. II, 12. Brains of squirrel in folk-medicine, ii. 73. Brass amulets, i. 94, 95. Bread, dreaming of, i. 77, 78. omens from, i. 85, 89, I25. Bridal customs, i. 61, 62. Bridal rose, ii. 107. Bride, attire of, i. 59, 60. Broom, omens from, ii. 89, I46. spirits can pass over, i. 149. witches kept off by, i. I46. Buckeye as amulet, ii. 99. poisonous, i. IIo. Buds, starting, dangerous season, ii. 117. Bulbirds, weather omens from, ii. 44. Bullock euphemistic animal-name, ii. 61. Bumblebee, omens from, ii. 40. 174 anI Burdock in folk-medicine, ii. IIo. Burial custom, i. I3I-133. Burning of ear, i. I39. Burns, cures for, ii. 75, 77. Butterbump, animal-name, ii. 6I. Butterflies make moths, ii. 91. Butterfly, omens from, ii. 40, 41. rhymes to, ii. 58. Butternut in folk-medicine, ii. I Io. Butterprint, plant-name, ii. I20. Buttons, love divinations from, i. 42, 43. Buzzard, i. 42; ii. 12, 30, 3, 84. language of, ii. 57. rhymes to, ii. 57. weather omens from, ii. 47. CABBAGE in folk-medicine, ii. IIO. Calf, omens from, ii. 23, 24. to be drawn away by tail, ii. 8I. various superstitions concerning, ii. 81. Calico horse, animal-name, ii. 6I. Calico spider, animal-name, ii. 62. Callas unlucky, ii. 105. Callers, omens from, i. 89. Camphor as amulet, ii. 99. Candle, omens derived from, i. 123, 146. Cards and luck, i. 79. Carrot blossoming, death omen, ii. 105. Cat, blood of, ii. 68. dreaming of, i. 71. heart of, ii. 68. hair of, ii. 71. omens from, ii. 24-26. skin of, ii. 68, 76. tail of, charm, ii. 20. various superstitions concerning, ii. 8I, 82. weather omens from, ii. 44,47-49, 53. Catskins in folk-medicine, ii. 68. Cattle, kneeling at Christmas, ii. 92. weather omens from, ii. 49. Caul, i. 22; ii. 22. Cedar knot as amulet, ii. 99. Chairs, omens from, i. 89, 129. Challenges, i. 27, 28. Charms, animal, ii. 1-21. plant, ii. 101-103. various, i. 95-97. Chaugset, animal-name, ii. 62. Cheat, turns to wheat, ii. 117. Cherry bark in folk-medicine, ii. Io. Cherry stones will grow in stomach, ii. 117. Chess turns to wheat, ii. 117. Chickens, omens from, ii. 31, 32. various superstitions concerning, ii. 84. weather omens from, ii. 43. Chickweed, in folk-medicine, ii. III. weather omens from, ii. Io8. Chigger-flower, ii. II8. Chigger-weed, ii. 117. Childhood, i. 26-3I. Christening, i. 21, 22. Christmas, cattle kneeling at, ii. 92. Church-mice, animal-name, ii. 63. Churchyard, grass from, ii. 102. Cicada, omens from, ii. 41. weather omens from, ii. 45. iex. Claw as amulet, ii. I, 12 Clematis brings moths, ii. I 8. Clover, five-leaved, ii. o15. in folk-medicine, ii. I. four-leaved, love divinations from, i. 43 -four-leaved, where mare foaled, ii. 109. leaves, weather omens from, ii. Io8. Cobwebs, in folk-medicine, ii. 76, 77. weather omens from, i. I09, III; ii. 54, 55 -Cock, crows before Christmas, ii. 92. omens from, ii. 31, 32. weather omens from, ii. 44, 45. Cockroaches, ii. 90. Codfish, weather omens from, ii. 43, 53. Coffee, omens from, i. 87. Coffin, dreaming of, i. 77. in candle, i. 125. omens from, i. 126. Cold weather, omens of, i. Io6. Colors, dreaming of, i. 7I, 72. dress, i. 59, 60. Combing hair after dark, i. 135. Combings of hair, ii. 65. Conjuring, ii. 14, 15. Contraries, dreams go by, i. 78. Cork, swallowing, ii. 118. Corn husks, weather omens from, ii. Io8. Corn-planting, rhymes, ii. 57. rules for, ii. Io8. "Corn-sweat," ii. I II. Corns, weather omens from, ii. 53. Corpse, i. 131, 133 -Cottonwood leaves, weather omen from, ii. Io8. Counting, love divinations from, i. 43, 44. Courting signs, i. 62-66. Cow, going dry, ii. 37, 38. losing cud, ii. 93. omens from, i. 126; ii. 24. Cow-killer, animal-name, ii. 93. Cow, weather omens from, ii. 49. Crab's claw, water from, in folk-medicine, ii. 77. Cradle, i. 24, 25. Cramp, cures for, i. 96. Crane, omens from, ii. 36. Crayfish, gastroliths of, ii. 77. weather omens from, ii. 43. Cricket, omens from, ii. 41. Cross, sign of, i. 26, 27. Cross-eyed persons, ii. 22. Crow, omens from, ii. 32, 33. rhymes concerning, ii. 57. talking of, ii. 84. weather omens from, ii. 49, 50. Crowing hens, i. 138. Crown of thorns, ii. I I8. Cuckoo, omens from, ii. 33. weather omens from, ii. 45. Cucumber, renewed growth of, ii. I 8. Cures, animal, ii. 68-79. plant, ii. IIo-Ii6. various, i. 94-100. Cypripedium, called valerian, and nerveroot, ii. 115. Customs, mortuary, i. 131-133. Index. '75 DADDY-LONG-LEGS, in folk-medicine, ii. 77. formulae addressed to, ii. 58, 59. omens from, ii. 33, 89. Daffodil pointed at, ii. 18. Daisy, love divinations from, i. 44, 45. Dandelion, divination from, i. 49; ii. 103. Days, dreams on certain, i. 77. lucky, i. 79, 80. lucky, for marriage, i. 60, 6I. unlucky, i. 79, 8o. various, i. 89, I44-I46. weather omens from, Io6-io8. Dead, customs concerning, i. 131-133. dreaming of, i. 72. Dead man's pinch, ii. 94. Death-baby, ii. 107. Death-bed customs, i. 131-133. Death-bell, i. 129. Death omens, i. 125-130. Death-watch, omens from, ii. 41. Deerskin, charm against witches, ii. 20. Devil, birds messengers of, ii. 85. dreaming of, i. 78. Devil's riding horse, animal-name, ii. 63. Dew. washing in, i. I43. Dickinson's horse, animal-name, ii. 63. Dimple, i. 32. Dish-cloth, omens from, i. 89. Divinations, animal, ii. I8, I9. plant, ii. 103, I04. various, i. 38-58. Divining rod, ii. 103. Dodder, i. 50; ii. 103. Dog, tail of, charm, ii. 20. " Dogberries," weather omens from, ii. io8. "' Dogberry "-tree, ii. 105. Dogs, omens from, ii. 26-28. various superstitions concerning, ii. 82. weather omens from. ii. 47, 50, 53. Dogwood, as charm, ii. 101-103. Dogwood rain, ii. I48. Domestic life, omens from, i. 146-148. Donkeys, ii. 80. Doodle-bug, animal-name, ii. 62. Dooly-bug, animal-name, ii. 62. Door, omens from, i. 9o. Doorway, love divinations from, i. 45, 46. Dove's heart, as love-charm, ii. 78. Dragon-flies, ii. 90, 91. Dreams of animals, i. 70, 71. of colors, i. 71, 72. of dead persons, i. 72. of earth, i. 72. of eggs, i. 72, 73. of fire and smoke, i. 73. of human beings, i. 73, 74. of meteorological phenomena, i. 74. of money and metals, i. 74. of teeth, i. 75. of various objects, i. 76-78. of water, i. 75. of weddings and funerals, i. 75, 76. Dressing, omens from, i. 8o. Ducks, weather omens from, ii. 45, 50. Dung in folk-medicine, ii. 70, 71. EAGLE, omens from, ii. 33. Ears, burning, i. 139. Ears, physical characteristic, i. 32. Earth, dreaming of, i. 72. Earthworms, in folk-medicine, ii. 72, 73. Earwigs, ii. 91, 92. Eel, skin of, in folk-medicine, ii. 68, 76. Eggs, love divinations from, i. 46. various superstitions concerning, ii. 84, 85. warts produced by, i. I0I. Egg-shell, lining of, ii. 78, 102. Egg-shells, as ague-cure, ii. 78. omens from, ii. 21. Elder, as amulet, ii. 99. as charm, ii. 102. in folk-medicine, ii. III. repels insects, ii. II8. Engagements, omens of, i. 59. English robin, animal-name, ii. 6I. Essence-peddler, animal-name, ii. 6I. Everlasting in folk-medicine, ii. I I. love-divinations with, ii. 104. Evil eye, casting, ii. 22. protection against, ii. 22. Eye, evil, ii. 22. Eyes, remedies for diseases of, i. 97, 98. significance of, i. 32, 33. Eyebrows, physical characteristic, i. 32, 33. Eyelashes, i. 29,67, 68. Eyestones, ii. 77. FAIR WEATHER, omens of, i. Io8, IIo. Fairies, children's notions of, i. 29. Fat (see also under Oil). Fat of bear in folk-medicine, ii. 73. of cat in folk-medicine, ii. 72. of dog in folk-medicine, ii. 72. of weasel in folk-medicine, ii. 73. Feather of buzzard, amulet, ii. 2. Feather-bed, hard to die on, ii. 93. Feathers protect from lightning, ii. 93. Features, significance of, i. 32, 33. Felon, remedies for, ii. 71, 77, 78. Ferns, ii. II8. Fever-weed, ii. ii6. Finger, pointing of, as charm, ii. 21. Fingers, love divinations from, i. 47. Finger-nails, cutting, i. 144, I45. cuttings of, ii. 66. spots on, i. 33. Fir, in folk-medicine, ii. iii. Fire, dreaming of, i. 73. omens from, i. 93, io6, II5, 130, 147. Firefly, omens from, ii. 41. puts out eyes, ii. 91. Fish, dreaming of, i. 71. rhymes to, ii. 58. various superstitions concerning, ii. 89. weather-omens from, ii. 50. Fishermen, omens for, i. 84. Flies, dreaming of, i. 70. omens from, ii. 41, 42. weather-omens from, ii. 50. Flowers, divination by, i. 50. unseasonable, ii. Io6. Fly, omens from, ii. 41, 42. will not stay on stomach, ii. 9I. Fly-up-the-creek, animal-name, ii. 6-i Foot, physical characteristic, i. 34. 176 Index. Forehead, physical characteristic, i. 34. Fork, omens from, i. 9o. Formulae, said over animals, ii. 56-60. Fortune, bad, omens of, i. 79-86. children's usages, i. 28. good, omens of, i. 79-86. Fossils, mistaken ideas concerning, ii. 93. Foul weather, omens of, i. io8-IIo. Fowls in folk-medicine, ii. 69. omens from, ii. 31, 32. weather-omens from, i. 43. Freckles, caused by lilies, ii. 12I. Friday, superstitions concerning, i. 79, 127. Friendship, children's usages, i. 28, 29. Frog in folk-medicine, ii. 69. omens from, ii. 37. Frogs, weather-omens from, ii. 45, 53, 120. Frogspit, plant-name, ii. IS8. Fruit, double, ii. Io6. Fruit-trees, blooming unseasonably, ii. IO6. Funeral customs, i. I31-133. dreaming of, i. 76. Funerals, omens from, i. I27, I28, 132, 133. GAPES in chickens, ii. 83. Garments, love-divinations from, i. 47, 48. various superstitions regarding, i. 141-143. Gastroliths of crayfish, ii. 77. Geese, omens from, ii. 36. various superstitions regarding, ii. 85. weather omens from, ii. 45, 50. Geraniums, ii. II8. Ghosts, charms against, ii. I5. Gizzards, superstitions concerning, ii. 93. Glass, love divinations before, i. 49, 56, 57. Glow-worms, weather omens from, ii. 53. Goats, weather omens from, ii. 43, 45. Gold amulets, i. 94. Goldenrod, amulet from, ii. 99. Gold-thread in folk-medicine, ii. I I. Goose, breastbone of, weather omens from, ii. 53. Grasshopper, formulae addressed to, ii. 59. Graves, orientation of, i. I3I. Grave rabbit, ii. 12. Green-heads, animal-name, ii. 6I. Ground-dog, animal-name, ii. 62. Ground-hog, weather omens from, ii. 50. Ground-puppy, animal-name, ii. 62. Ground-squirrel, bite of, poisonous, ii. 83. Grouny, animal-name, ii. 6I. Guinea-fowls, weather signs from, ii. 45. Guinea-woodpecker, animal-name, ii. 6I. Gulls, weather omens from, ii. 45, 50, 51. Gunbright, ii. II9. HABENARIA in folk-medicine, ii. I I. Haddock, markings of, ii. 89. Hair in folk-medicine, ii. 71, 72, 77. physical characteristic, i. 34, 35. turns to snakes, ii. 94. various superstitions concerning, i. 122. Hair-combings, ii. 65. Hair-cuttings, ii. 65. Hair-eaters, ii. 93. Hairy arms, i. 35. Halloween observances, i. 53-58. Hand, omens derived from, i. 35, 36. physical characteristic, i. 35, 36. of the dead, ii. 22. Hand-of-glory, ii. 78. Handsel, i. 87. Hare. (See Rabbit.) Hazel, ii. 103. Heal-all in folk-medicine, ii. 112. "Heartsease," ii. IIo. Hell-trot, ii. 112. Hemlock-tree points north, ii. I 9. Hens crowing, i. 138. omens from, ii. 31, 32. weather omens from, ii. 51. Heracleum in folk-medicine, ii. 112. Heron, popular name of, ii. 61. Herring, salt, for sore throat, ii. 78. Hiccoughs, remedies for, i. 98, 99. Hickory-nut as amulet, ii. 1oo. Hoe, omens from carrying, i. 86, 125. Hogs, weather omens from, ii. 46, 53, 54. Holy thorn of Christmas, ii. II8. Honeysuckle-apples, ii. 120. Hop-toad, animal-name, ii. 62. Hop-vines at Christmas, ii. 119. Horn-bug, animal-name, ii. 63. Hornets, nest of, in folk-medicine, ii. 78, 79. weather omens from, ii. 43. Horse, weather omens from, ii. 54. Horses, counting, i. 43, 44. ' dreaming of, i. 71. omens from, ii. 28, 29. rhymes concerning, ii. 28. ridden by witches, ii. 82. various superstitions concerning, ii. 82. weather omens from, ii. 51. Horse-chestnut as amulet, ii. 99. poisonous, ii. IIo. Horseradish in folk-medicine, ii. 112. Horseshoe, as charm, ii. 21. Horseshoes, lucky, i. 8I. House-leek in folk-medicine, ii. II2. Howling of dogs, ii. 20. Human beings, dreaming of, i. 73, 74. Humming-bird moth, animal-name, ii. 63. Hunchback, ii. 22. INCANTATIONS over animals, ii. 56-60. Inch-worm, animal-name, ii. 63. Indian paint, plant-name, ii. 19. Indian turnip in folk-medicine, ii. 112. Indicator, ii. I 8. Innocence, omen from finding, ii. io6. and wetting bed, ii. 19. Iron, i. 95, 97. Itching, omens from, i. 88, 92, 139, 140. Ivy, omens from, ii. io6. JACK-COME-UP-THE-WORLD, animal-name, ii. 62. Jamestown weed in folk-medicine, ii. II2. Jay, various superstitions concerning, ii. 85. weather omens from, ii. 45. Jigger, animal-name, ii. 63. Job's tears as amulet, ii. Ioo, 11o. Joe-pye-weed in folk-medicine, ii. 112. Index. 177 Juniper in folk-medicine, 112. " Juniper," various superstitions regarding, ii. II9. KALMIA in folk-medicine, ii. 112. Katydid causes fits, ii. 91. omens from, ii. 42. weather omens from, ii. 54. Keet, animal-name, ii. 6I. Kelp in folk-medicine, ii. 12. weather omens from, ii. io8. Key as amulet, i. 94. divination with, i. 144. Kissing, i. 40, 136. Knife, omens from, i. 85, 90, 91, 144. LABRADOR TEA in folk-medicine, ii. 113. Ladder, unlucky to walk under, i. 83. Lady in lobster, ii. 94. Lady-bug, omens from, ii. 42. rhymes addressed to, ii. 59, 6o. Lady's tresses as love-potion, ii. 113. Larch. (See "Juniper.") Leather-winged bat, animal-name, ii. 6I. Leaves, weather omens from, ii. Io9. Letters of alphabet in divinations, i. 48, 49. Lice, dreaming of, i. 71. from eating sorrel, ii. 120. Lightning-bug, weather omens from, ii 47. Lightning, tree struck by for toothache, ii. II3. Lilac-blossom lucky, ii. io6. Lilies cause freckles, ii. 121. Linnaea in folk-medicine, ii. 113. Live-forever, divinations from, i. 50; ii. 104. Live-forever, ii. Io6, II9. Liver-berries, ii. 113. Liver of dog cures bite, ii. 77. Lizards poisonous, ii. 86, 89. Lobster, lady in, ii. 94. has its name on its leg, ii. 92. Locust, weather omens from, ii. 45. Locust-blossoms, ii. 113. Loon, weather omens from, ii. 45, 46, 5I. Looking-glass, omens from, i. 52, 53, 58, 86, 128. Loper, animal-name, ii. 63. Louse in folk-medicine, ii. 69. on mainmast brings wind, ii. 54. Love and marriage, i. 59-66. Love-charms, i. 38-58; ii. 78. Love divinations, i. 38-58; ii. 103, 104. Love-potions, ii. I13. Luck, 79-86. amulets for, ii. 11-13. Luck-egg as amulet, ii. I2. Lucky and unlucky days, i. 79, 8o. Lucky bone, ii. I. Lucky bugs as amulets, ii. 12. Lutins, ii. 82. Lycopodium in folk-medicine, ii. 113. MAD DOGS, animal-name, ii. 64. Madeira-vine unlucky, ii. io6. Man, red-haired, ii. 23. Maple-trees change species, ii. II9. Mare, milk of, ii. 78. Marriage ceremony, i. 6I, 62. Marriage, love and, i. 59-66. Marriage, lucky days for, i. 60, 6i. Marrow of hog in folk-medicine, ii. 73. Marsh-frogs, animal-name, ii. 61. Matrimony-vine unlucky, ii. Io6. May-bee, animal-name, ii. 63. May-fly, animal-name, ii. 63. Measuring-worm, animal-name, 63. Meat, dreaming of, i. 76. Medicine made of children, ii. 95. Mermaids, ii. 80. Meteors, i. 88, 144. Meteorological phenomena, dreaming of, i. 74. Mice, weather omens from, ii. 46. Midnight, love divinations at, i. 49. Milk, bloody, ii. 34, 38. first after calving, ii. 78. of mare, ii. 78. various superstitions concerning, ii. 95. Milky juice of plant, i. 102 ii. 113. Milt, weather omens from, ii. 54. Mirrors, omens from, i.52, 53, 58, 86, 128. Mirror reversed after a death, i. 13I. Mockingbird, omens from, ii. 36. Mole-paw, amulet, ii. x2. Moles come out at noon, ii. 82. " old-time people," ii. 82. on human body, i. 36. Mole-tree, plant-name, ii. I 9. Money, dreaming of, i. 74. omens of, i. 87, 88, II9. Mooly-up, animal-name, ii. 62. Moon, divination by, i. 117-119. fortune, i. 119, I20. superstitions concerning, i. 117-124. waxing and waning of, i. I20-122. weather omens from, i. IIo, III. Moonlight, i. 120. Mortuary customs, i. 13I-I33. Mosquito caught by holding breath, ii. 91. Mosquitoes, weather omens from, ii. 51. Mosquito-hawk, animal-name, ii. 63. Moth, omens from, ii. 41. Moths, various superstitions concerning, ii. 91. Mountain-ash as charm, ii. IOI. keeps off witches, ii. 99. Mouse, in folk-medicine, ii. 78. formulae said to, ii. 60. omens from, ii. 21. Mud-dauber, animal-name, ii. 63. Mud-hen, weather omens from, ii. 46. Mud-puppy, animal-name, ii. 62. Mule killed by water in ear, ii. 83. omens from, ii. 29. Mule-killer, animal-name, ii. 63. Mullein in folk-medicine, ii. I 3, I 4. Mumbly-up, animal-name, ii. 63. Muskrats, weather omens from, ii. 43. Mythology of childhood, i. 29. NAIL used in charms, i. 95; ii. 102. Nails of finger and toe in folk-medicine, ii. 7I, 72. Needles, omens from, i. I42. Negroes, love divinations from counting, i. 44. Nightmare, charms against, i. 96. I78 Index. Nixie, animal-name, ii. 61. Nose, physical characteristic, i. 36. Nose-bleed, cures for, i. 94, 95, 99, Nutmeg as amulet, ii. 1oo. Nutmegs, hollow, ii. 1i9. OIL of angleworms in folk-medicine, ii. 72, 73. of muskrat in folk-medicine, ii. 73. of skunk in folk-medicine, ii. 73. of snake in folk-medicine, ii. 73. Omens, animal, ii. 22-42. of babyhood, i. 21-25. of death, i. 125-I30. from dreams, i. 70-78. from physical characteristics, i. 32 -37. from plants, ii. 105-107. weather, i. IO6-II6. Onion in folk-medicine, ii. 114. Owl, hooting, charms against, ii. 20, 21. omens from, ii. 33. weather omens from, ii. 46. Ox, weather omens from, i. 49. Oyster-crab, ii. 92. Oysters, ii. 89. PALATE, to keep from falling, ii. 78. Parasites in stomach, ii. 73, 74. Parsnip in folk-medicine, ii. 114. Partridges, omens from, ii. 33, 34. spruce, weather omens from, ii. 44. weather omens from, ii. 51, 52, 54. white, weather omens from, ii. 51. Peacocks, weather omens from, ii. 45. Peacock-feathers, omens from, ii. 34. Peanuts in folk-medicine, ii. 114. Peppercorns in folk-medicine, ii. 114. Persimmons, ii. 120. Phcebe-bird, omens from, ii. 36. Photograph taken, fatal to the old, i. 144. Physical characteristics, i. 32-37. Physiognomy, i. 32-37. Pieprint, ii. 120. Pigeon, weather omens from, ii. 51. Pigeons, feathers of, i. 131. in folk-medicine, ii. 69. Pigs, fattened by cutting off tail, ii. 83. omens from, ii. 29. or hogs, various superstitions concerning, ii. 83. weather omens from, ii. 44, 46, 52-54. Pill-bug, animal-name, ii. 63. Pimpernel, weather omens from, ii. IO9. Pine-tree, ill-omened, ii. 102. Pins, omens from, i. 8I, 82. Plantain in folk-medicine, ii. 114. Plant-omens, ii. 105-107. Plants, folk-medicine of, ii. IO-116. love divinations from, i. 49, 50. poisonous, ii. 1IO, II3, 120. Poker, heated, ii. 2 I. Porcupine shooting quills, ii. 83. Porpoises, weather omens from, ii. 52. Posthumous child, ii. 23. Potato as amulet, ii. Ioo, Prognostications. (See Divinations and Omens.) Projects, i. 38-54. Puff-balls, ii. 120. Pumpkin-seed in folk-medicine, ii. 114. Punishment, children's superstitions concerning, i. 29, 30. Puppies born of women, ii. 80. QUAILS, weather omens from, ii. 46. RABBIT, omens from, ii. 29. Rabbit's ear, amulet, ii. 13. foot, amulet, ii. 12. skin in folk-medicine, ii. 69, 70. stomach in folk-medicine, ii. 79. Rabbits, various superstitions concerning. ii. 83. weather omens from, ii. 52, 54. Rain, animal omens of, ii. 43-55. omens of, i. 111-114. plant omens of, ii. io8, 109. Rainbow, money at end of, i. 88. weather omens from, o19. Rain, producing, ii. 53. Rain-crow, animal-name, ii. 61. Ramper-eel, animal-name, ii. 62. Rats, dreaming of, i. 70, 71. in folk-medicine, ii. 79. omens from, 29, 30. various superstitions concerning, ii. 83 -weather omens from, ii. 44, 46. Rattlesnake, ash-wood repels, ii. 117. in folk-medicine, ii. 70. rattle, amulet, ii. 13. skin, amulet, ii. I3. various superstitions concerning, ii. 88. Rattlesnake-bones, amulet, ii. 13. Redbird, omens from, ii. 34. Rheumatism, cures for, i. 95,124; ii. 69, 72, 73, 76, 77, 99-101. weather omens from, ii. 54. "Rheumaty-bud," ii. 99. Ribs, one less in man than woman, ii. 80. Ring, love divinations with, i. 51, 57. Ringing in ears, i. 129. Robin, language of, ii. 57, 58. omens from, ii. 34. weather omens from, ii. 46, 54. Rooster, weather omens from, ii. 44, 45. Rosemary, lucky, ii. 102. SAFFRON in folk-medicine, ii. 14. Sage-leaves repel ants, ii. 120. Salamanders, conjuring with, ii. I5. omens from, ii. 38. various superstitions concerning, ii. 88, 89. Saliva, divinations with, ii. I8, 19. in folk-medicine, ii. 74-76. Saliva-charms, ii. 16-20. Salt, charm, ii. 15. omens from, i. 82. Sassafras in folk-medicine, ii. I 4, 115. wood, ii. 107. Scald cured by licking, ii. 77. Scissors, omens from, i. 9o. Scratches on hands, i. I40. Sea contains fruit and vegetables like land, ii. 120. Index. 179 Seals, weather omens from, ii. 52. Serpents. (See Snakes.) Seventh daughter, ii. 23. son, ii. 23. Sewing, omens from, i. 88, 141, 142. Sheep, weather omens from, ii. 46, 54. Shoes, divinations with, i. 48. omens derived from, i. 142, 143. turned as counter-charm, ii. 20. Shuddering, signification of, i. 141. Sieve, protection against witches, ii. I6. Silver bullet, ii. 15, 6. Singing, omens from, i. 137. Skins in folk-medicine, ii. 68, 69, 76. Skunk, omens from, ii. 30. weather omens from, ii. 54. Sky, weather omens from, i. 108, 112, 113 -r15. Skyarpin, animal-name, ii. 62. Slaters, animal-name, ii. 64. Smartweed in folk-medicine, ii. 11 5. stained with Saviour's blood, ii. 120. Snails, rhymes addressed to, ii. 6o. Snail-shells, amulet, ii. I3. Snake-doctor, animal-name, ii. 63. Snake-feeder, animal-name, ii. 63. Snakes in folk-medicine, ii. 70. ominous, ii. 37. rain produced by, ii. 54. rhymes addressed to, ii. 6o. sucking cows, ii. 87. various superstitions concerning, ii. 86-88. weather omens from, ii. 52, 54. Sneezing, omens from, i. 92, 130, I45, 146. Snipe, weather omens from, ii. 52. Snowbirds become chipping sparrows, ii. 85. Solomon's tears, ii. IO3. Southernwood aphrodisiac, ii. 115. love divinations from, ii. 104. Sow-bug causes hydrophobia, ii. 42. Sow-thistle, weather omens from, ii. o19. Sparks of fire ominous, i. 88, 92, 93, 148. Sparrows, weather omens from, ii. 52. Spells. (See Charms, Conjuring, Divination, and Witches.) Spider, amulets from, ii. I3. bite of, ii. 40. omens from, ii. 38, 39. poisonous, ii. 89. rhymes addressed to, ii. 60. weather omens from, ii. 54. Spirits. (See Ghosts.) Spleen, weather omens from, ii. 54. Spoons, omens from, i. 91. Sports, children's, i. 30. Spruce in folk-medicine, ii. 115, Squaw-bush, ii. II8. Squid-squalls, animal-name, ii. 64. Squirrels, omens from, ii. 30. weather omens from, ii. 44, 54. Stairs, omens from, i. 84. Starfishes come from sea-urchin shells, ii. 92. Stars, i. 69. children's notions of, i. 29. love divinations from, i. 5I, 52. shooting, sign of money, i. 88. weather omens from, i. I o, IIi II 6. Stink-bug, animal-name, ii. 63. Stirring mixtures sunwise, i. 123. Stockings in folk-medicine, ii. 79. Stone, under tongue, i. 31. Storms, omens of, 114-II6. Streptopus in folk-medicine, ii. 113. Stumbling, i. 137, 138. Sty, cures for, i. 96, 99, IOO. Sugar in folk-medicine, ii. 79. Sunday, actions performed on, i. 145, 146. Sunwise movements, i. 123, 124. Sun-dogs, weather omens from, i. IIo. Swallows, omens from, ii. 34. weather omens from, ii. 52, 54. Swarming of bees, ii. 9o. Sweat-bee, animal-name, ii. 63. Sweeping, omens from, i. 82. Sweet flag in folk-medicine, ii. III. Swine. (See Hogs and Pigs.) TANSY in folk-medicine, ii. 115. Tea-grounds, omens from, i. 52, 91, 92. make you black, ii. 121. Tea-kettle, omens from, i. 84. Teeth, dreaming of, i. 75. physical characteristic, i. 36, 37. after extraction, ii. 66, 67. Thirteen, superstitions concerning, i. 130. Thoroughwort in folk-medicine, ii. 112. Three leaves, ii. 113. Thunder-snake, animal-name, ii. 62. Ticklaces, weather omens from, ii. 50. Tide, deaths at ebb of, i. I26. Toad, charm, ii. 14. in folk-medicine, ii. 70. omens from, ii. 38. various superstitions concerning, ii. 89. weather omens from, ii. 44, 52, 54. Toadstools made by toads, ii. I2I. Toe of the dead, ii. 22. Tomtit, language of, ii. 58. Tooth, amulets from, ii. 13. disposition made of, after pulling, ii. 66, 67. Toothache, cures for, i. 96, 97; ii. 79. Transference of diseases, ii. 77. of warts, i. 102-IO4. Tree-frogs, weather omens from, ii. 45. Trillium called nosebleed, ii. 115. Trout in folk-medicine, ii. 79. Tumblebug, animal-name, ii. 63. Turkey, weather omens from, ii. 52. Turning back, omens from, i. 83, I34. Turpentine in folk-medicine, ii. I15. Turtle biting will not let go till it thunders, 11i 55 -various superstitions concerning, ii. 88. Turtle-dove, i. I86; ii. 33. Turtle-shell, omens from, ii. 37. UMBRELLA, omens from, ii. 86, 125. Up-the-county-boys, animal-name, ii. 6I. Urine in folk-medicine, ii. 7I. VENGEANCE-MARK, i. 143. Vervain called fever-weed, ii. I 6. Visitors, omens of, 89-93. I8o Index. WALKING abroad, love divinations from, i. 52. " Wandering Jew," omens from, ii. io6. Waning of the moon, i. 120-122. Warts, causes of, i. io1. cures for, i. 102-105, 122. Washing hands together, i. I35. Water, dreaming of, i. 75. in folk-medicine, i. 97. love divinations with, i. 53. omens from spilled, i. 92. Watermelon, pointing at, ii. 19. Waxing of the moon, i. 120-I22. Weasel, bite of, poisonous, ii. 83. Weather, animal omens of, ii. 43-55. plant omens of, ii. Io7, io8. various omens of, i. io6-I 6. Weather-rhymes, i. I 2-114. Weaver, animal-name, ii. 62. Wedding customs, i. 59-66. signs, i. 62-66. Weddings, dreaming of, i. 75, 76. Week, days of the, i. I44-146. Wells, divinations from, i. 57, 58. Wetting bed, cure for, ii. 78. Whale a fish, ii. 83. " Whale's egg," weather omens from, ii. 55. Wheat-straw charm, ii. 103. Wheat turns to chess, ii. 117. Whip-poor-will, omens from, ii. 34, 35. weather omens from, ii. 46. Whirlwind, ii. I6. Whistling for rain, i. 114. for wind, i. II6. girls, rhymes concerning, i. I38. White men descendants of Cain, ii. 8o. Willow-grouse, weather omens from, ii. 51. Wind, omens of, i. 114-II6. Wishing, i. 67-69. Wishbone, i. 46. Witches, charms against, ii. 15, i6, 102,103. fork protects against, ii. I6. killed with silver bullet, ii. 15. mountain-ash against, ii. 99. sieve protects against, ii. i6. silver protects against, ii. i6. water left for, ii. I6. Withe-rod in folk-medicine, ii. II6. Woman, ii. 23. Woodpeckers, omens from, ii. 35. weather omens from, ii. 47, 53. Wood-pussy, animal-name, ii. 6i. Wool of sheep in folk-medicine, ii. 72. Worm-casts, weather omens from, ii. 55. Worm-dust in folk-medicine, ii. II6. Worms, omens from, ii. 42. weather omens from, ii. 47. Wren, omens from, ii. 35. YARROW, love divinations from, ii. 104. rhymes to, i. 50. MAY 2 9 115 OFFICERS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, 1899.!reoibeutr. CHARLES L. EDWARDS, CINCINNATI, OHIO. Jfitst uitmcltreiltent. ALICE C. FLETCHER, WASHINGTON, D. C. )etabtr tictreditent, C. F. LUMMIS, Los ANGELES, CAL. Qountil. ALICE MABEL BACON, HAMPTON, VA. ROBERT BELL, OTTAWA, CAN. FRANZ BOAS, NEW YORK, N. Y. DANIEL G. BRINTON, PHILADELPHIA, PA. J. D. BUCK, CINCINNATI, OHIO. tALC]IE FORTIER, NEW ORLEANS, LA. STANSBURY HAGAR, BROOKLYN, N. Y. OTIS T. MASON, WASHINGTON, D. C. tFREDERIC W. PUTNAM, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. tF. N. ROBINSON, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. GARDNER P. STICKNEY, MILWAUKEE, WIS. ANNE WESTON WHITNEY, BALTIMORE, MD. tHENRY WOOD, BALTIMORE, MD. ptemanent ectrtarp. W. W. NEWELL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. tDaourers. JOHN H. HINTON, NEW YORK, N. Y. t As Presidents of Local Branches. I SUBSCRIBERS TO THE PUBLICATION FUND OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, I898. I. Adler, New York, N. Y. Samuel P. Avery, Jr., New York, N. Y. Mrs. Mary M. Barclay, Milwaukee, Wis. William Beer, New Orleans, La. Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Mass. Charles P. Bowditch, Boston, Mass. Philip Greely Brown, Portland, Me. John Caldwell, Edgewood Park, Pa. Miss Ellen Chase, Brookline, Mass. Walter G. Chase, Brookline, Mass. Clarence H. Clark, Philadelphia, Pa, Charles P. Daly, New York, N. Y. William G. Davies, New York, N. Y. Charles F. Daymond, New York, N. Y. Robert W. DeForest, New York, N. Y. Andrew E. Douglas, New York, N. Y. Carl Edelheim, Philadelphia, Pa. James W. Ellsworth, New York, N. Y. Dana Estes, Boston, Mass. 2 John Fiske, Cambridge, Mass. E. Sidney Hartland, Gloucester, England. D. C. Henning, Pottsville, Pa. T. WV. Higginson, Cambridge, Mass. Robert Hoe, New York, N. Y. Mrs. Lee Hoffman, Boston, Mass. Miss Amelia B. Hollenback, Brooklyn, N. Y. Miss Cornelia Horsford, Cambridge, Mass. John E. Hudson, Boston, Mass. Clarence M. Hyde, New York, N. Y. E. Francis Hyde, New York, N. Y. Frederick E. Hyde, New York, N. Y. A. Jacobi, New York, N. Y. Edward C. James, New York, N. Y. Miss Louise Kennedy, Concord, Mass. Walter Learned, New London, Conn. Charles McK. Leoser, New York, N. Y. Benjamin Lord, New York, N. Y. Albert Matthews, Boston, Mass. J. Meyer, New York, N. Y. J. W. Paul, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa. T. Mitchell Prudden, New York, N. Y. Public Library of New London, New London, Conn. Frederic W. Putnam, Cambridge, Mass. William L. Richardson, Boston, Mass. R. Hudson Riley, New York, N. Y. Charles Schaffer, Philadelphia, Pa. 3 C. Bernard Shea, Pittsburgh, Pa. *William M. Singerly, Philadelphia, Pa. George E. Starr, Germantown, Pa. Miss Olivia E. P. Stokes, New York, N. Y. Brandreth Symonds, New York, N. Y. Miss M. Fannie Torbert, Lambertville, N. J. Henry H. Vail, New York, N. Y. Henry J. Willing, Chicago, II1. Mrs. Henry J. Willing, Chicago, Ill. Thomas Wilson, Washington, D. C. I899. (ADDITIONAL.) George E. Dimock, Elizabeth, N. J. C. H. Moore, Clinton, Ill. Mrs. Charles Peabody, Cambridge, Mass. Mrs. H. E. Raymond, Brookline, Mass. Otto B. Schlutter, Hartford, Conn. E. M. Scudder, New York, N. Y. Mrs. Margaret Wade, Bath, Maine. Samuel D. Warren, Boston, Mass. 4 PUBLICATIONS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY. JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE. VOLS. I.-XI. 1888-1898. MEMOIRS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY. VOL. I. FOLK-TALES OF ANGOLA. Fifty Tales with Ki-mbundu text, literal English Translation, Introduction, and Notes. Collected and edited by HELI CHATELAIN, late U. S. Commercial Agent at Loanda. I894. Pp. xii., 315. (With two Maps.) VOL. II. LOUISIANA FOLK-TALES. In French Dialect and English Translation. Collected and edited by ALCEE FORTIER, D. Lit., Professor of Romance Languages in Tulane University of Louisiana. I895. Pp. xi., 122. VOL. III. BAHAMA SONGS AND STORIES. A Contribution to Folk-Lore, by CHARLES L. EDWARDS, Professor of Biology in the University of Cincinnati. With Music, Introduction, Appendix, and Notes. Six Illustrations. 1895. Pp. xiii., III. VOL. IV. CURRENT SUPERSTITIONS. Collected from the Oral Tradition of English-Speaking Folk. Edited by FANNY D. BERGEN. With Notes, and an Introduction by WILLIAM WELLS NEWELL. I896. Pp. vi., 161. VOL. V. NAVAHO LEGENDS. Collected and translated by WASHINGTON MATTHEWS, M. D., LL. D., Major U. S. Army, Ex-President of the American Folk-Lore Society, etc. With Introduction, Notes, Illustrations, Texts, Interlinear Translations, and Melodies. I897. Pp. viii., 299. VOL. VI. TRADITIONS OF THE THOMPSON RIVER INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. Collected by JAMES TEIT. With Introduction by FRANZ BOAS, and Notes. I898. Pp. x., 137. VOL. VII. ANIMAL AND PLANT LORE. Collected from the Oral Tradition of English-Speaking Folk. Edited and annotated by FANNY D. BERGEN. With Introduction by J. Y. BERGEN. I899. Prices of each volume of the Memoirs: Vols. I., II., III., IV., VI., VII., $3.50, net; to members of the American Folk-Lore Society, $3.00, net. Vol. V., $6.oo, net; to members of the American Folk-Lore Society, $5.00, net. 5 THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY was organized January 4, i888, for the collection and publication of the folk-lore and mythology of the American continent. The Society holds annual meetings, at which reports are received and papers read. The membership fee is three dollars, payable on the Ist of January in each year. Members are entitled to receive the Journal of American FolkLore, a periodical appearing quarterly, and of which eight volumes have already been issued, each volume containing about three hundred and fifty octavo pages. The Journal is published for the Society by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York. 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