94 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



resurrection from the regions of death and the grave." * " The 

 Church of Rome, also, in the time of Pope Paul V, considered eggs 

 emblematical of the resurrection." f 



Germans to this day term April Ostermonat, or Easter month, 

 an old form of the word dstarmdnoth occurring as early as the 

 time of Charlemagne. The Old High German name was ostard, 

 the plural form being retained, as two days were usually kept at 

 Easter. The association of the hare with eggs is curious, and the 

 explanation is found in the belief that originally the hare seems 

 to have been a bird which the ancient Teutonic goddess Ostara 

 turned into a quadruped. For this reason the hare, in grateful 

 recognition of its former quality as a bird and swift messenger of 

 the Spring Goddess, is able to lay eggs on her festival at Easter 

 time. X 



The practice of nailing a horseshoe against the lintel of a door 

 is familiar to almost everybody ; and it is thought particularly 

 efficacious in warding off bad luck if the shoe be one that was 

 found upon the highway. 



Although this custom obtains more extensively among the 

 negroes, it is not of African origin. I am inclined to believe that 

 it originated at a time more remote than the superstitions relating 

 to " thirteen at a table," or " the spilling of salt," both of which 

 are generally conceded to have originated at or with the Lord's 

 Supper and consequent events. 



The Romans drove nails into the walls of cottages as an anti- 

 dote against the plague ; for this reason L. Manlius, a. u. c. 390, 

 was named dictator to drive the nail.* In Jerusalem, a rough 

 representation of a hand is marked by the natives on the wall of 

 every house while in building. || The Moors generally, and espe- 

 cially the Arabs of Kairwan, employ the marks on their houses 

 as prophylactics, and similar handprints are found in El Baird, 

 Petra. General Houtum-Schindler, of Teheran, informs me that a 

 similar custom exists in Persia, as well as in parts of northern India. 



That these practices and the later use of the horseshoe origi- 

 nated with the rite of the Passover is probable. The blood upon 

 the doorposts and upon the lintel (Exodus, xii, 7) formed, as it 

 were, an arch, and when the horseshoe was subsequently observed 

 as resembling, conventionally, a similar arch, it may naturally 

 have been adopted, and in time become a symbol of luck, or 

 " safety," to those residing under its protection. 



* Quoted by Brand. Observations on Popular Antiquities. London, l%11, pp. 90, 91. 

 f Ritual of Pope Paul V, for the Use of England, Ireland, and Scotland ; quoted by 



Brand, op. cit., p. 91, note. 



X Folklore Journal. London, vol. i, 1883, p. 123. 



* Lieutenant Condors. Palestine Exploration Fund, January, 1873, p. 16. 

 II Brand. Antiquities. London, vol. iii, 1882, p. 18. 



