374 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



otherwise inflamed surface of the cuticle, but warm water would 

 always do all that saliva could do. 



One very queer notion which I have found in parts of Penn- 

 sylvania, northern Ohio, central Maine, and in Dorchester, On- 

 tario, is that a pain or " stitch " in the side, induced by running 

 or rapid walking, may be cured by lifting a stone, spitting 

 on its under surface, and replacing it. In Chelsea, Mass., chil- 

 dren who bring on pain in the side by running say that it 

 may be cured by picking up a small pebble and placing it for a 

 time under the tongue. In Cambridge, school-children in racing 

 or in playing romping games may often be seen to stoop, pick 

 up a pebble, and insert it either under the tongue or under the 

 upper lip to prevent pain in the side. An eleven-year-old boy 

 belonging to a cultivated family, and attending one of the best 

 public schools in Cambridge, assures me that he believes a person 

 could run all day without weariness or pain by adopting this sim- 

 ple precaution. The above-mentioned charm-cures become more 

 interesting when compared with two Swabian beliefs recorded by 

 Dr. Buck. One of these is that palpitation of the heart may be 

 relieved by secretly lifting a stone from the ground, spitting on 

 it three times, and replacing it ; while a Swabian cure for tooth- 

 ache is to have the sufferer spit on the under side of a silicious 

 stone. 



In eastern Massachusetts and in parts of New Hampshire a 

 very common practice, when one's foot is " asleep," is to cross the 

 top of the benumbed foot with the tip of the fore-finger moistened 

 with saliva. An Italian fruit-vender tells me that this usage is 

 very common among the peasant class in Italy. In Lawrence, 

 Mass., the same thing is done to the hand if it be " asleep." 

 From northern Ohio a variation of the practice is sent me : if the 

 foot or leg be " asleep," to spit on your hand or finger and rub 

 under the knee on the hamstring is said to give quick relief from 

 the unpleasant pricking sensation. An Irish servant-girl in 

 Brooklyn, N. Y., recommended the same remedy. Among the 

 people comprising a small Gaelic community on Cape Breton is 

 found another variation of this remedy the saliva-charm there 

 used to relieve the discomfort of a foot " asleep " being, if the 

 right foot is the one troubled, to wet the right fore-finger with 

 spittle and rub the right eyebrow ; if the left foot be " asleep," to 

 moisten the left fore-finger and rub the left eyebrow. Pliny 

 quotes from Salpe the statement that when any part of the body 

 is " asleep " the numbness may be relieved by spitting into the 

 lap or by touching the upper eyelid with spittle. Pliny also states 

 that a " crick " in the neck may be cured by putting fasting spit- 

 tle on the right knee with the right hand and on the left knee 

 with the left hand. 



