436 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



One of the most beautiful was evolved at Rome. On the bor- 

 der of the mediaeval city stands the church of "Domine quo 

 vadis " ; it was erected in honor of a stone, which is still pre- 

 served, bearing a mark resembling a human footprint perhaps 

 the bed of a fossil. 



Out of this a pious legend grew as naturally as a wild rose in 

 a prairie. According to this story, in one of the first great per- 

 secutions the heart of St. Peter failed him, and he attempted 

 to flee from the city ; arriving outside the walls he was suddenly 

 confronted by the Master, whereupon Peter in amazement asked, 

 " Lord, where goest thou ? " {Domine quo vadis ?) ; to which the 

 Master answered, " To Rome, to be crucified again." The apostle, 

 thus rebuked, returned to martyrdom ; the Master vanished, but 

 left, as a perpetual memorial, his footprint in the solid rock. 



Still another legend accounts for a curious mark in a stone at 

 Jerusalem. According to this, St. Thomas, after the ascension 

 of the Lord, was again troubled with doubts, whereupon the Vir- 

 gin Mother threw down her girdle, which left its imprint upon 

 the rock, and thus converted the doubter fully and finally. 



And still another example is seen at the very opposite extreme 

 of Europe, in the legend of the priestess of Hertha in the island of 

 Rugen. She had been unfaithful to her vows, and the gods fur- 

 nished a proof of her guilt by causing her and her child to sink 

 into the rock on which she stood.* 



* For myths and legends crystallizing about bowlders and other stones curiously shaped 

 or marked, see, on the general subject, in addition to works already cited, Des Brosses, 

 " Les Dieux Fetiches," 1760, passim, but especially pp. 166, 167 ; and for a condensed 

 statement as to worship paid them, see Gerard de Rialle, " Mythologie comparee," vol. vi, 

 chapter ii. For imprints of Buddha's feet, see Tylor, " Researches into the Early History 

 of Mankind," London, 1878, pp. 115 et seq. ; also Coleman, p. 203, and Charton, "Voya- 

 geurs anciens et modernes," pp. 365, 366, where engravings of one of the imprints, and of 

 the temple above another, are seen. There are five which are considered authentic by the 

 Siamese, and a multitude of others more or less strongly insisted upon. For the imprint of 

 Moses' body, see travelers from Sir John Maundeville down. For the mark of Neptune's 

 trident, see last edition of Murray's " Handbook of Greece," vol. i, p. 322 ; and Burnouf, 

 "La Legende Athenienne," p. 153. For imprint of the feet of Christ, and the Virgin's 

 girdle and tears, see many of the older travelers in Palestine, as Arculf, Bouchard, Roger, 

 and especially Bertrandon de la Brocquiere in Wright's "Collection," pp. 339, 340; also 

 Maundrell's " Travels " and Maundeville. For the curious legend regarding the imprint of 

 Abraham's foot, see Weil, "Biblische Legenden der Muselmanner," pp. 91 et seq. For 

 many additional examples in Palestine, particularly the imprints of the bodies of three 

 apostles on stones in the Garden of Gethsemane and of St. Jerome's body in the desert, 

 see Beauvau, "Relation du Voyage du Levant," Nancy, 1615, passim. For the various im- 

 prints made by Satan and giants in Scandinavia and Germany, see Thorpe, ii, 85 ; Fried- 

 richs, pp. 126 and passim. For a very rich collection of such explanatory legends regard- 

 ing stones and marks in Germany, see Karl Bartsch, " Sagen, Marchen und Gebrauche aus 

 Mecklenburg," Wien, 1880, vol. ii, pp. 420 et seq. For a woodcut representing the imprint 

 of St. Agatha's feet at Catania, see Charton, " Voyageurs anciens et modernes," vol. ii, 

 p. 75. For a woodcut representing the imprint of Christ's feet on the stone from which he 

 ascended to heaven, see woodcut in Maundeville, edition of 1484, in the White Library, 



