Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/499

Rh horseshoe viewed as a symbol. So far as compiling the knowledge thus gathered together into a popular handbook is concerned, the volume before us deserves praise, and we are quite sure that its author would be the last person to claim that it constitutes a serious contribution to the subsection of folklore with which it deals. The book is not, however, confined merely to facts regarding crescent-shaped objects; it deals with the sacredness of iron and kindred subjects, and though of little scientific value it may do good by leading its readers to record examples of the folk-beliefs which have come under their personal observation. Mr. Lawrence deserves our warmest thanks for the care with which he gives his references; he does not, however, seem to be aware of the fact that in certain districts of Portugal it is usual for the peasantry to invest their savings in gold ornaments, and that the earrings most usually to be seen are made in the form of crescents. This custom may be a lingering trace of the Moorish occupation; but in all probability it is of far earlier date and is a part of the widespread belief in the power of the crescent to protect from evil influences. In reference to iron, the author does not give the following facts amongst those he has gathered together from various books and the proceedings of learned societies. In at least one district of England it is sometimes considered the duty of the nurse to heat the water in which a newly born child is washed, by plunging into it a red hot poker. Skulls have been dug up with nails in them which are believed to have been inserted in the head after death. An instance of this nature came to light some years ago in Lincolnshire, and was supposed by many persons to be the proof that a murder had taken place; but in all likelihood the iron bore witness to an obsolete burial rite. It would be extremely difficult to cause the death of any person by this means, unless the victim were asleep when the deed was done.