Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 18, 1907.djvu/251

 Correspondence. 2 1 5

(8) " There is a small rock-fish, called by some the ' Eche-

neis,' and sometimes used in judicial proceedings {dike), and as love-charms. It is not edible. Some say that it has feet, although it has none, but appears to have them, because its fins are like feet" (II. c. 10, s. 3). The fish referred to in this passage seems to be a Goby.

(9) "All animals, when alive, have worms in their heads,

these worms being produced in the cavity beneath the tongue, and in the region of the first cervical vertebra; the worms are not smaller than very large maggots, closely crowded, and not less than twenty in number" (II. c. 11, s. 6).

(10) " All Snakes have sharp, interlocking teeth, and as many ribs as there are days in a month, viz. thirty. Some say that Snakes resemble young Swallows in one respect, for they say that the eyes of Snakes grow again, after anyone has pierced them" (II. c. 12, s. 12).

I should be grateful for any information respecting the folk- lore of the Greek area, which would assist in elucidating these passages. T. East Lones.

Dudley House,

Upper Highway, King's Langley.

Opening Windows to Aid the Release of the Soul.

" Der natiirliche Mensch off'nete sonst sogar das Fenster, damit die entschwebende Seele hinaus konne." (G. Th. Fechner, Tages- und Nacht-Ansicht ; Leipzig, 1879; p. 41.)

I should be interested to hear of localities where this death- bed custom is, or has been, observed.

H. Krebs.

[The custom of opening windows or doors to facilitate the departure of the soul is reported to exist in Germany, France, and Spain. In Great Britain it has been noted in North-East