Mooney.] -'-^O [April 15, 



cessive mornings before breakfast to the house of the woman who cured 

 it, which she did by making the sign of the cross upon his eye with her 

 finger three times on each occasion, repeating a charm at the same time. 

 If a bramble, or the finger, sliould accidentally strike the eye, the pain is 

 at once relieved by making the sign of the cross in the same way three 

 times with the object which caused the injury. 



There are several cures for rheumatism. One, which has its paral- 

 lel in this country, is to carry a potato in the pocket, and as the 

 potato dries up the patient will recover. Another way is for the 

 patient to lie upon his breast, and let a man who came into the world 

 feet foremost walk along his body from the feet to the head. In one in- 

 stance, where a man was completely crippled by rheumatism in his knee, 

 he was advised by a woman to make a poultice of raw potatoes sliced 

 very thin, and bind it upon his knee, and keep it there without change 

 until the potatoes became offensive from decay. He did as directed, and 

 after wearing the poultice for several weeks until he could endure the 

 smell no longer, he found himself recovering. The potato is believed to 

 have great medicinal virtue, as is also the water in which potatoes have 

 been boiled. 



A man who suffered from colic applied to another who had a cure for 

 it, and was given a small piece of unsalted butter, with instructions to 

 take a little of it for three consecutive mornings, while still fasting, re- 

 citing certain prayers at the same time. He could not say positively what 

 those prayers were, "for fear of telling a lie." The doctor was not 

 allowed to take pay for his cure, but might accept a free gift. The man 

 did as directed, and was permanently cured, nor did the butter ever melt 

 or become less, although he kept it until he was coming to America. 

 Another man on the vessel was troubled in the same way. He lent him 

 the butter, and it cured him, but on looking for it the next morning it had 

 disappeared. Unsalted butler is used in a great many charms, and may 

 not be such a bad thing after all. 



The following charm for tumors and similar swellings comes from 

 Meath. The patient, a child who was afflicted with an unnatural swelling 

 just above the upper lip, on three consecutive Friday afternoons walked 

 several miles into Navan, so as to arrive at the house of the bean feasac' 

 just as the sun was setting in the west. Turning the child's face toward 

 the setting sun, the woman bathed the swelling with a liquid from a glass 

 which she held in her hand, repeating certain words at the same time. 

 After the third Friday the swelling disappeared. This idea in connection 

 with the setting sun is part of an old belief common to all Europe, which 

 prompts farmers to plant crops with a growing moon, and leads fishermen 

 to expect the end of a dying man when the tide is going out. It is impos- 

 sible to learn the composition of the liquid. 



Warts are cured in the same county by impaling a snail upon a hedge 

 thorn. As the body of the snail shrivels up, the wart disappears. The 



