Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/577

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the practice of the thief or to that of the quack. Prof. Strack sees this, and he therefore describes in detail the use of blood in chapters relating to, — Human sacrifice ; Blood ritual ; Human blood serves to ratify the given word (pacts with the evil spirit, etc.); The blood of other persons used for healing purposes (Amis and Amelius) ; Human blood cures leprosy, (story of Constantine and of other kings and rulers) ; Utilisation of one's own blood (for curing pains, toothache, barrenness) ; Blood of executed persons ; Hangman's rope (against epilepsy, for increasing custom by drinking the blood or keeping some part of it, and bringing luck) ; Corpses and parts of corpses (used for curing and protecting, relics of saints, drinking out of skulls, the corpse's hand and its therapeutic effects, magic remedies, and accusations against Christian missionaries in China) ; Animal blood, (materia medica) ; Waste and evacuations of the human body, (a very short chapter on the large subject of ingredients of the ancient pharmacopoeia or "dispensatory"). The following chapter on "The blood super- stition as a cause of crime," together with the next one on " Blood superstition among criminals and its consequences," are un- doubtedly the most interesting and novel portions of the book. The author opens practically a new chapter of psychical inves- tigation by proving the existence of a terrible mania connected with such superstitious use of human and other blood. The bibliography published at the head of the volume, though not pretending to be anything like complete, is still valuable, (pp. 18-29). It consists almost exclusively of German books referring to German superstitions and to German folk-medicine. Black's Folk- Medicine, and the literature mentioned therein on pp. 221-222, should be added, as well as the ancient " dispensatories," with their multifarious ingredients. An index completes this ex- ceedingly useful book, which is marred only by the sensational title. The German title, Der Blutaberglaiibe der Menschheit (The blood superstitions of mankind) is both more descriptive of the contents of the volume and more likely to give it the wide circulation which it so fully deserves by its intrinsic scientific merit.

M. Gaster.

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