Page:The New Monthly Magazine and Universal Register - Volume 011.djvu/154

140 out any previous indisposition. Jacob, by no means pleased with this abrupt method of quitting the world, and being desirous of settling his affairs previous to his departure, humbled himself before the lore and urgently requested the favor of being exempted from the general rule. He obtained his wish—he sneezed, and did not die. All the princes of the earth being informed of the fact, unanimously ordained, that in future every person who sneezed should offer up prayers for the preservation of his life."

So much for Rabbinical fables:—But the most curious and rational dissertation on this subject, occurs in Strada, Prælectiones, Lib. iii. Prel. 4; where, in his "Pistor Suburranus," he treats the matter at large. He ridicules the idea of this custom having originated in the time of Gregory, and traces it up to a much earlier period, quoting Apuleius, Petronious Arbiter, Pliny, and even Aristotle. After giving instances from the two first authors, he goes on—"Videtis, auditores, salutem sternuentibus imploratam quinque ferme sæculis ante Gregorium. Plige. Tiberius imperator, tristissimus hominum, ut ait Plinius, et qui religiosis hisce officiis minime capiebatur, nonne dum vehebatur curru per urbem, sternuenti honorem habebat ipse, sibique ab aliis exigebat? Perge adhuc supra Tiberii etatem. Aristoteles (videte, obsecro, rhetores, quantum yos ego a Gregorii tempestate removeam, atque in ultimâ pene antiquitate reponam,) dum nature causas in problematum questionibus investigat, merito ait homines venerari sternutamentum, et bene sternuentibus augurari; eaque super re populariter inquivit multa, sapienterque definit."

He gives us also an epigram, taken from one of the Minor Greek poets (Florillus) to prove the antiquity of this custom:

The words of Petronius are: "Dum hæc ego jam credenti persuadeo, Giton, conlectione spiritus plenus, ter continuo ita sternutavit, ut grabatum concuteret: ad quem motum Eumolpus conversus, salvere Gitona jubet."

And Apuleius says: :Pone terguny ejus Maritus acceperat sonum sternutationis, quod cum putaret ab eâ profectum, solito sermone sulutem ei fuerat imprecatus, et iterato rursum et frequenter, sæpius."

Aristotle and Hippocrates speak of sneezing as a sign of health:—

"Sternutamentum esse cerebri motum expellentis supervacaneum humorem adjumento aeris per nares attracti." And the former adds, that on this account—

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Jan. 1.

The discovery of red snow, though extremely curious, is not altogether new, as will be perceived from the following passage, which is extracted, literally, from the 1st vol. of Les Merveilles et Beautés de la Nature en France, by M. Depping. The only difference which appears to exist between the snow discovered by Capt. Ross in the Arctic Regions, and the snow found in Europe, alluded to in the following extract, is, that the snow of the frozen regions is of a very deep colour, at least if we may rely on the statements of the public papers, whilst the other is only slightly tinged with light red. It is of little consequence whether this difference arises from the colouring matter being more abundant in the former than in the latter, or whether the two colours are produced by different substances. If the snow brought by Capt. Ross derives its hue, as is supposed, from the excrement of myriads of birds, all doubt is removed; but there is every reason to believe, that, on the mountains of Europe, the red colour of the snow proceeds from another cause. The extract from M. Depping's work is as follows:—

"Red Snow is sometimes found on very high mountains during great thaws. Saussure has observed it on the Alps, and M. Raymond on the Pyrenees, at the height of from 2,000 to 2,500 yards. It is only during the spring season, that the furrows traced by the melted ice on the snow are tinged with a light shade of pink. This shade becomes darker in parts where there is a junction of several furrows, and it even deepens to the tone of carmine, where numerous springs had dislodged the powder by which the co-