18S9.] 333 



To kill the first snake found in spring will enable one to llnvart the evil 

 designs of one's enemies for the remainder of the year. 



A very common practice is to nail a horse-shoe against the lintel of the 

 stable door, to insure good luck and safety to the animals. Horse-shoes 

 are also nailed over the doors of the house to insure good luck to the oc- 

 cupants. That such a horse-shoe be fouod upon the highway is of addi- 

 tional importance. 



The custom of employing horse-shoes in the manner above mentioned 

 and the representation of the outline or impress of a hand, is of Oriental 

 origin. The Romans drove nails into the walls of cottages, as an antidote 

 against the plague : for this reason L. Manlius, A. U. C. 390 was named 

 dictator to drive the nail.* In Jerusalem, a rough representation of a 

 hand IS marked by the natives on the wall of every house whilst in build- 

 ing t The Moors generally, and especially the Arabs of Kairwan, employ 

 the marks on their houses as prophylactics, and similar hand-prints are 

 found m El Baird, near Petra. In Persia, it appears, these hand impres- 

 sions receive another interpretation so as to become related to an important 

 fact in the history of that people. General A. Houtum-Schindler Inspec- 

 tor-General of Telegraphs of the Empire, says : •• All through Persia, prin- 

 cipally m villages though, a rough representation of a hand, or generally 

 the miprmt of a right hand, in red, may be seen on the wall or over the door 

 of a house whilst in building, or on the wall of a mosque, booth or other 

 public building. It is probably an ancient custom, although the Persians 

 connect it with Islam and say that the hand r -presents that of Abbas a 

 br..ther ot Husain (a grandson of the prophet Mohammed), who was one 

 ot the victims at the massacre of Kerbela in A. D. 68u, and who had his 

 right hand cut off by el Abrad ibn Shaiban. In India I have noticed sim- 

 liar marks, hands, or simply red streaks." | 



That these practices and the later use of the horse-shoe originated with 

 the rue of the Passover is probable. The blood upon the door-posts and 

 upon the lintel (Exodus xii, 7) was put upon the most conspicuous places 

 and formed, as it were, an arch ; and when the horse shoe was invented 

 It was naturally adopted by the superstitious as conforming to the shape 

 or outline, upon the primitive doorway, and in time it became the symbol 

 ot luck, or "safety to those residing under its protection." g 



In the following notes, under head of each disease, are 'presented the 

 f.icts pertaining to ailments and their treatment by internal remedies 

 charms, transference of the complaint, etc. : 



Ague. 



_ The following remedy is reported from Fayette county, where accord- 

 ing to the informant, it is held in high repute : " Take one quart of ale. 



* Brand's Antiquities, Lond., iii, 1S82, p. 18. 



f Lieut. Condor, " Palestine Explor. Fund," Jan., 1873 p 16 



1 Letter dated Teheran, Dec. 19, 1888. 

 J This has been previously referred to in an article entitled : -Folk-lore of the Penn- 

 tl^r2?i8S8™p.T29! "'''''"' '" '"" """"'""' '^-""- ^''''"^"'■'' ^°''°" '""^ ""''' York, Vol. 



