April 1, 1SG6.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



S3 



.RURAL NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE "march of. intellect " is a very good thing 

 in its way, bnt it is a thing which, when much 

 talked about, becomes a positive nuisance. The 

 steam-engine and the electric telegraph are useful, 

 though' not by any means ornamental ; but it un- 

 fortunately happens, that as these novelties become 

 recognized, old manners and customs fall into disuse, 

 and are looked upon with a contempt which they 

 certainly do not deserve. The floral games with 

 which the " merric month of May" was wont to be 

 ushered in, are now things of the past ; Saint Valen- 

 tine even, in rustic districts, is put on the shelf, and, 

 in towns, is commemorated by hideosities which 

 must make the worthy gentleman very much ashamed 

 of his devotees. In short, nothing remains as it 

 used to be; no, not even the weather. It is, 

 however, somewhat comforting to reflect that the 

 progress of education has not quite banished from 

 the popular mind the traditions which have been 

 handed down from bygone ages. Many quaint old 

 customs, curious legends, and more curious prac- 

 tices, still exist in out-of-the-way places, and before 

 these are all swept away by the advancement of 

 learning, it may be well to record a few of them 

 for the benefit of a future generation. 



Li Essex, or at least in some parts of it, there 

 exists a superstitious belief, that if the blossoms of 

 the hawthorn {Cratceyus oxyacantha) are brought 

 into the house, death, or, at any rate, serious illness, 

 will ensue in some member of the household ; and 

 well do I remember the indignation which I, in more 

 youthful days, excited in a worthy relative, by con- 

 veying, unconscious of the results to be expected, 

 a splendid hawthorn bough, one mass of blossom, 

 within her portals. 



In a village in Buckinghamshire a case of epi- 

 lepsy recently occurred. Medical aid was employed, 

 but, after a short time, abandoned, and a travelling 

 packman was consulted. He suggested two methods 

 of cure, both of which were faithfully tried. The 

 first was, that the afflicted person should procure a 

 jay : every morning fasting she was to chew a piece 

 of bread, and then give it the bird to eat, and on the 

 death of the poor creature, the fits would cease. To 

 make assurance doubly sure, another remedy was 

 also tried, viz., a silver ring to be worn on the ring- 

 finger as an "amberlet" (amulet?), to be sub- 

 scribed for and presented to the patient, without her 

 previous knowledge ! The point of the joke lies in 

 the fact, that this mode of treatment was announced 

 by the invalid herself! 



In the same county, Tutsan {Hypericum Andro- 

 samtm) is called " Touch-and-Heal," and is said to 

 be a " capital thing to put to cuts." By the way, 

 can any one tell me the meaning or derivation of the 

 name " Bark leaves " formerly applied to this plant ? 



Here, too, the Great Mullein {Verbascnm Thapsus) 

 is vaguely said to be "good for colds," and bears the 

 names "Rag-paper" and "Poor-man's Flannel." 

 There is also an idea that Mezereon, or " Mazalum " 

 {Daphne Mezereum), can be budded from wood-laurel 

 {D. Laureola) " by them as knows how." In Essex, 

 dock leaves are applied to the blisters raised by the 

 sting of the nettle, and are believed to be efficacious 

 in removing the smart. 



A gentleman of my acquaintance had killed, near 

 "Wycombe, a slowworm (Anguis fragilis), and was 

 carrying it home on a stick. A sagacious peasant, 

 however, warned him to be careful, for the thing 

 couldn't die till the sun set, "no, not if you was to 

 cut it in pieces " ! 



Of course the popular errors regarding snakes 

 are in full force here ; though, to his honour be it 

 recorded, one man confided to me his belief, that 

 " common snakes wasn't poisonous, only adders and 

 vipers," which seem to be regarded as two different 

 things. 



Occasionally there seems to be an exercise of 

 poetical imagination which one could hardly expect 

 in the rustic mind. Thus, a poor woman, lament- 

 ing to me over some misfortune, said, — " Well, sir, 

 you know the sparrows say, ' Cheer-up, cheer-up/ 

 and I must try and ' cheer up ' too." 



One more remedy, and I have done. The follow- 

 ing was communicated to me by a medical man, a 

 native of Lincolnshire, who received it from a farmer 

 in that county, who had tried it, and had found it 

 efficacious when medical aid had failed :— " A cure 

 for ague.— Get up at sunrise on the first day of the 

 month and go into a field, having first emptied all 

 your pockets ; take with you the carving-knife which 

 you have bought and used yourself. Search for an 

 ant-hill, and when found, plunge the knife into it, 

 and stir round as many times as you have had ague- 

 fits ; then lay yourself fiat on your stomach, with 

 your face towards the sun, and having placed your 

 mouth over the hole which you have made with the 

 knife, breathe into it as many times as you have had 

 the fits. You may then go home, taking care to 

 speak no word until you have breakfasted, and the 

 cure is complete." This last injunction, of silence, 

 is by no means unimportant, as the cure is known to 

 have entirely failed when this has been broken. 

 Pills made of spiders' webs are also given for the 

 same complaint. 



Here I will, for the present, close my selection 

 from " Oldwivesfabledom ; " assuring such of my 

 readers as fail to appreciate my choice, that if 

 Science be absent from the narration, there is no 

 lack of genuine Gossip to flavour it withal. B. 



" Might not the very admiration of nature have 

 been an act of worship," continued Lancelot. "How 

 can we better glorify the worker than by delighting 

 in his work ? "—Yeast. 



