MAGICAL MEDICAL PRACTISE 173 



blade upward to cut the ' after-pains ' of childbirth. To render teeth- 

 ing easy and painless the infant's gums are rubbed with a ' cooter ' 

 bone, the ear or bone of a rabbit, or the warm brains of the same animal 

 just killed. It is thought that nine live wood-lice tied in a bag and 

 suspended from the neck of a child having thrush will soon give relief. 

 The touch of a posthumous son is recommended for the same complaint. 

 As a preventive of croup a black silk thread or a string of ' electric ' 

 (amber) beads is placed around the neck. 



In the little city of Newberry a few years ago an infant was sup- 

 posed to have been cured of a disease known as ' stretches ' by passing 

 it through a horse-collar warm from use. Some authorities say that 

 shoe-sole tea should first be administered, to be followed by the horse- 

 collar treatment. In the same county an infant who had a case of 

 umbilical hernia was passed by his father through a cleft in a living 

 young white-oak tree. The theory was that the child would recover 

 if the tree lived ; if it died the hernia would remain. The tree and the 

 patient, both of them living and whole, are still here to convince un- 

 believers of the virtues of magical medicine. 



The passing of children through rings of various kinds is compara- 

 tively common. One of the ' using' formulas already given in this 

 article is for the cure of ' liver-grown/ an ailment known also as 

 ' growed-on ' and ' grow-fast,' in which the liver is supposed to adhere 

 abnormally to some other organ. This is also treated by passing the 

 patient through a horse-collar or between the rungs of a ladder. In 

 still another method the afflicted infant is passed between the legs of 

 a table, after which it is held by the feet and tossed upwards towards 

 each of the four corners of the room, care being taken, however, to pre- 

 vent it from falling or from striking the walls. In Newberry County, 

 several years ago, a negro mother, misunderstanding the directions 

 given her by an old woman for this treatment, killed her child by 

 throwing it forcibly against the four corners of her log house. 



It is not always easy to explain the philosophy of superstition, but 

 in these cases the thought underlying the treatment is sufficiently evi- 

 dent. The idea seems to be that disease is caused by an evil spirit 

 which may be misled and puzzled by mazes of rings and tortuous pas- 

 sages. Thus, interlaced cords are still sold in Italy as charms, and 

 Persian carpets are woven in intricate patterns to bewilder the evil eye. 

 Analogies to the Carolina practises cited are abundant and they 

 lead us back to very remote times. Mr. Edward Clodd, the English 

 author of several works on custom, myth and religion, is authority for 

 the statement that the practise of drawing infants through the cleft 

 trunks of trees (usually ash) still prevails in remote rural districts of 

 England. Scotch witches in effecting magical cures used to pass their 

 patients nine times through rings or garlands of woodbine; and from 



