Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 33.djvu/677

Rh do exist in some of these oils, but it is not easy to ascertain why lard or olive-oil might not take the place of these disgusting unguents.

The belief in "snake-oil" as a remedy is probably only one phase of the feeling which so often and among such different races has given rise to serpent-worship. Since the publication of a previous paper, in which several popular superstitions about snakes were mentioned, a few additional ones have come to my knowledge. In various parts of New England it is commonly believed, even by people of a good deal of intelligence, that rheumatism and sprains may be relieved by wearing a dried snakeskin—according to some, that of a black snake—about the part affected. The dried skin of an eel is often used instead, very likely from the common misapprehension which classes this fish among snakes. Dried skins of snakes are often kept ready for use in New England barns, as it is currently believed that a portion chopped up and mixed with the food of a cow after parturition will obviate any difficulty there may be in securing the expulsion of the placenta. The cow-boys of the West often wear the rattles of the rattlesnake in their hat-linings as a cure for or preventive of headache—the greater the number of rattles the more certain the remedy. In some parts of England a snake's tooth is frequently carried as a charm against drowning. The belief that sound teeth may be secured by biting into a live black snake I find exists in many places in the United States, both North and South. An interesting Tennessee notion is that the first thunder in the spring "wakens the snakes," and from that time forth one must beware of meeting them. There also ferns are popularly called "snake-weeds," as it is supposed that snakes abound in their vicinity, and so both children and adults are afraid to walk where ferns grow, for fear of being bitten by the reptiles. In the same State it is not uncommon after killing a snake, in time of drought, to hang it on a tree for three days as a sure means of bringing rain. In other localities in the South it is said that the snake must be hung with "its back down," if rain be desired, for if the back be turned skyward it will certainly prevent rain. The belief, so very general in the United States, that any and every species of snake is poisonous, and the bite or "sting" therefore dangerous, is also prevalent in Nova Scotia, and it is there thought that the wound of a snake is certain to be deadly unless the victim can manage to reach water before the snake can, in which case the latter will die, and the person bitten will recover. A common warning throughout New England is, "You mustn't let a snake spit in your mouth, or it will certainly kill you!" The idea that a snake's saliva must be poisonous is quite in keeping with the host of other misconceptions concerning the