Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/55

 9* s. xii. JULY is, iocs.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

impress the mutual obligations of the con- tracting parties upon the minds of the spec- tators. As a rule the slain animal became a sacrifice in whole or part. Outside Pales- tine sacrifices were not countenanced ; hence the glass out of which the contracting parties drink and swear eternal fealty assumes the character of a "sacrifice" by being ''struck," thereby perpetuating an old Palestinian cus- tom. M. L. R. BRESLAR.

CURES FOR EPILEPSY AND THRUSH. In the Southern Daily Mail of 22 January we read that

"on a recent Sunday a farm labourer stood in the porch of the parish church of a village on the banks of the Tamar and collected half-a- crown in coppers from different members of the congregation, the thirtieth donor giving the half-crown and taking the twenty-nine pence as a climax to the weird ceremony. From the consecrated coin thus quaintly acquired the labourer has manufactured a silver ring, which he will wear as an infallible remedy for epilepsy."

And in the Devon Evening Express for 27 January :

"A few days ago (says a Daily Mail correspond- ent) an instance of Devonshire superstition was published. Another case of strange local belief comes to light. A cure for * thrush,' a child's com- plaint, is supposed to be effected by reading the eighth Psalm fasting to the patient, and a case of 'cure' is reported within the last few days. In some localities the Psalm is read over the child's head three times, three days in the week, for three consecutive weeks. Another cure for ' thrush ' in North Devon is to catch a duckling, place its mouth wide open within that of the affected child, and as the sufferer inhales the duck's breath the complaint will disappear."

Of the true " inwardness " of the first and third cures here mentioned, for epilepsy and thrush respectively, I can give no explana- tion, unless the former has a connexion with the sum for which our Saviour, the universal healer, was sold.

For thirty pence our Saviour was sold To the false Jews, as I have been told,

says the pretended Abbot of Canterbury to King John in the ballad.

With regard to the second, I presume the second verse of the beautiful Psalm used, and perhaps the sixth verse, are the effective cures (in addition to the magic number three which governs its use): "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength," and "Thou raakest him [i.e., man] to have dominion of the works of Thy hand," &c. Perhaps some of your readers can cast light on the hidden meanings or original superstitions involved.

W. SYKES, M.D., F.S.A.

Exeter.

WE must request correspondents desiring infor- mation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that the answers maybe addressed to them direct.

THE HAPSBURGS AS EMPERORS OF GERMANY. I have in my possession certified copies of three diplomas or letters patent bearing the sign manual of the Emperor Leopold I., King of Hungary, &c., creating members of my family nobles of the Holy Roman Empire and of the kingdom of Hungary. I tran- scribe the style of the Emperor used in these documents :

" Leopoldus divina favente dementia electus Romanorum Imperator semper Augustus, ac Ger- manise, Hungarian, Bohemias, Dalmatiae, Creative, Sclavonic, Ramce, Service, Gallitise, Ladomericv, Rasciffi t CumanicK [in one Lumaniw'], Bulgaria que Rex, et Archidux Austriae, Dux Burgundise, Bra- bantise, Styrire, Carinthise, Carniolite, Marchio MorayijB, Dux Luxemburgise ac superioris et in- ferioris Silesise, Wurthembergise et Thehe, Princeps Suevise. Comes Habspurgi, Tirolis, Ferreti, Kyburgi, et Goritice, Landtgravius Alsatiae, Marchio Sacri Romani Imperil supra Anasum, Bur go vice, ac utri- usque Lusatiiv, Dominus Marchire Sclavonics, Portus Naonis et Salinarum, etc., etc."

Some one learned in deciphering the phraseology of such documents and with greater historical and geographical know- ledge than I possess may perhaps be willing to explain in what part of the world the places printed above in italics are situated and by what nomenclature they are at pre- sent known, and such a one may be also perhaps able to complete the style of the Emperor by expanding the "etceteras" which stand at the end of the above recital. The complete style of the old Emperors of Ger- many ought to find a place in these columns.

These letters patent are countersigned by individuals described therein as follows :

" Reverendissimis ac venerabilibus in Christo patribus dominis prsenominato Leopoldo dictse Sanctse Romans Ecclesis tituli Sancti Hieronynii Illyricorum presbytero Cardinale a Kollonich jam fats metropolitans Strigoniensis et fratre Paulo Szechey Colocensis et Bacientis Ecclesiarum canonice unitarum Archiepiscopis."

The said cardinal is described in another part of the documents as

" Archiepiscopi Strigoniensis locique ac comitatus ejusdem supremi ac perpetui comitis, Prirnatis Hungaris, Legati Nati, summi et secretarii can- cellarii necnon consiliarii nostri intimi."

Can any one tell who these prelates were ?

F. DE H. L.

VENISON FEAST. I have for some time been endeavouring to obtain information