ANIMAL AND PLANT LORE. 659 



do exist in some of these oils, but it is not easy to ascertain why 

 lard or olive-oil might not take the place of these disgusting un- 

 guents. 



The belief in " snake-oil " as a remedy is probably only one 

 phase of the feeling which so often and among such different 

 races has given rise to serpent-worship. Since the publication of 

 a previous paper, in which several popular superstitions about 

 snakes were mentioned, a few additional ones have come to my 

 knowledge. In various parts of New England it is commonly be- 

 lieved, even by people of a good deal of intelligence, that rheu- 

 matism and sprains may be relieved by wearing a dried snake- 

 skin — according to some, that of a black snake — about the part 

 affected. The dried skin of an eel is often used instead, very 

 likely from the common misapprehension which classes this fish 

 among snakes. Dried skins of snakes are often kept ready for 

 use in New England barns, as it is currently believed that a por- 

 tion chopped up and mixed with the food of a cow after parturi- 

 tion will obviate any difficulty there may be in securing the ex- 

 pulsion of the placenta. The cow-boys of the West often wear the 

 rattles of the rattlesnake in their hat-linings as a cure for or pre- 

 ventive of headache — the greater the number of rattles the 

 more certain the remedy. In some parts of England a snake's 

 tooth is frequently carried as a charm against drowning. The 

 belief that sound teeth may be secured by biting into a live black 

 snake I find exists in many places in the United States, both 

 North and South. An interesting Tennessee notion is that the 

 first thunder in the spring " wakens the snakes," and from that 

 time forth one must beware of meeting them. There also ferns 

 are popularly called " snake-weeds," as it is supposed that snakes 

 abound in their vicinity, and so both children and adults are afraid 

 to walk where ferns grow, for fear of being bitten by the rep- 

 tiles. In the same State it is not uncommon after killing a snake, 

 in time of drought, to hang it on a tree for three days as a sure 

 means of bringing rain. In other localities in the South it is said 

 that the snake must be hung with " its back down," if rain be de- 

 sired, for if the back be turned skyward it will certainly prevent 

 rain. The belief, so very general in the United States, that any 

 and every species of snake is poisonous, and the bite or " sting " 

 therefore dangerous, is also prevalent in Nova Scotia, and it is 

 there thought that the wound of a snake is certain to be deadly 

 unless the victim can manage to reach water before the snake 

 can, in which case the latter will die, and the person bitten will 

 recover. A common warning throughout New England is, " You 

 mustn't let a snake spit in your mouth, or it will certainly kill 

 you ! " The idea that a snake's saliva must be poisonous is quite 

 in keeping with the host of other misconceptions concerning the 



