Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 50.djvu/112

100 to ward off rheumatism; having secreted somewhere about the person the left hind foot of a graveyard rabbit for luck; or placing within the purse the dried heart of a bat for success in gambling?

Many mothers believe that amber beads possess signal properties in curing their children of sore eyes, ears, or throat; while the flannel band to be worn about the neck to cure tonsilitistonsillitis [sic] or an inflamed throat must be red, as that color corresponds to the color of the malady. In like manner the carrot is held in esteem in the cure of jaundice, yellow being the characteristic color of both. The carrot is suspended in the room occupied by the sufferer, and as the root shrivels and dries up the affection is removed. Warts, it is believed, may be removed by rubbing upon them a piece of meat which is then buried; as the meat decays the warts go away. They may also be transferred to another by rubbing upon them a piece of bone, and putting this upon the spot where found; whoever picks up the bone will have the warts transferred to his own hands.

We are all more or less uncomfortably impressed at hearing unaccountable noises; many persons dread going upon a journey or cutting out a garment on Friday. Thus we perceive that the mere reference to the trifles which are apt to control our actions rings to our minds such a startling array of superstitions, observed by us in others, or perhaps even entertained by ourselves, that it becomes impracticable to continue further entering so prolific a subject at this moment.

I may say, in conclusion, that it is only by exposing such fallacies that we can hope for their extinction; but this is no easy matter, remembering the axiom that "there is no truth, however pure and sacred, upon which falsehood can not fasten and ingraft itself therein."

birth of a child among the Bondei people of Africa is attended, according to the account of the Rev. G. Dale, missionary, by many great perils, for if a single condition regarded as unfavorable occurs, the infant is strangled at once. Its life is in danger again at the time of teething, for it may be so incautious as to let its upper teeth protrude first, and if this is the case it is held unlucky, and will almost certainly be killed. Even if it is allowed to live it will be in perpetual danger, and any disaster that happens to its parents will be attributed to it. If, however, the under teeth protrude first, the child's moral character is established. The boy can not, however, enter the house in which the unmarried men sleep till he has been publicly welcomed. For this ceremony all the boys and girls assemble, and the father brings the child out to show them that the lower teeth have protruded first. Then every house contributes Indian corn, and the children pound and eat it, after which the boy is regarded as one of them. references/>