96 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



enmity of a witch who lived but a short distance away, when the 

 latter, it is supposed, took her revenge in the following manner : 

 Whenever visitors came to the Weiler residence, the girls, without 

 any premonition whatever, would suddenly be changed into 

 snakes, and after crawling back and forth along the top ridge of 

 the wainscoting for several minutes they were restored to their 

 natural form. This curious transformation occurred quite fre- 

 quently, and the circumstance soon attained widespread notoriety. 

 About the end of the third month the spell was broken and every- 

 thing went on as before. 



Another popular fallacy is the existence of the hoop snake. 

 This creature is usually reported as capable of grasping the tip of 

 its tail with its mouth, and like a hoop running swiftly along 

 in xjnrsuit of an unwelcome intruder. This snake is believed, 

 furthermore, to have upon its tail a short, poisonous horn, like a 

 cock's spur, and that if it should strike any living creature death 

 would result. The stories concerning this marvelous snake usu- 

 ally end with the statement that the person pursued barely 

 escapes, and that the snake strikes a tree instead, causing it to 

 wither and die. 



The rattlesnake, because of its venomous bite, is universally 

 dreaded, and numerous curious beliefs are current respecting this 

 reptile, also the use to which various parts may be put, and the 

 treatment of its bite. 



The rattle, if tied to a string and suspended from the neck of 

 an infant, will serve to prevent convulsions ; if carried by an adult, 

 it will guard against rheumatism. The oil is employed as a 

 remedy for deafness ; and the venom, diluted, mixed with bread, 

 and made into pills, has been administered internally to cure 

 rheumatism. Another curious superstition, held by young men, 

 is that if one places a snake's tongue upon the palm of his hand 

 beneath the glove it will cause any girl, regardless of her previ- 

 ous indifference, to ardently return his passion if he be enabled 

 but once to take her hand within his own. This resembles to a 

 certain extent the former use, in Germany, of a dove's tongue, 

 which was similarly employed ; and furthermore, if one became 

 aware that the choice of his heart failed to respond to his affec- 

 tion, he had only to place a dove's tongue within his mouth and 

 snatch a kiss, when the girl's objection or indifference to him 

 would instantly vanish. 



There are numerous popular methods of treating snake bites, 

 from the internal use of alcoholic liquors to the external applica- 

 tion of warm, raw flesh obtained by cutting a live chicken in two. 



I ascertained a short time since the secret of alleged success 

 claimed by various mountain powwows both in Pennsylvania and 

 in Maryland. The remedy is termed the Meisterumrzel, or " master 



