I 



I 



1889.] 341 



[Iloffmau. 



Most of the remedies employed for the above purpose contain -reateror 

 less quantities of sassafras root, burdock root, bone set, cream of tartar, etc. 



Rheumatism. 



A potato carried in one's pocket will insure freedom from rheumatism 

 As a potato is perishable and likely to become shriveled, it must be 

 replaced by a fresh one when necessary. 



By some persons horse-chestnuts are used in a similar manner. 



The rattle of a rattlesnake, attached to a string and worn suspended 

 from the neck, is believed to cure, as well as to prevent, an attack of 

 rheumatism. 



Rattlesnake oil, if rubbed over the affected part, is also believed to be 

 an unf\uling remedy. The present writer saw this article prepared and 

 offered for sale, only a few months ago, in the mountains of Cumberland 

 county. 



A decoction of witch hazel bark is also used as a local application. 



A decoction of the bark, or an infusion of the blossoms, of the prickly 

 &^\x-Zant?ioxylum americanum Mill.-is also employed in the same manner 

 as the preceding. 



Scrofulous Affections. 



Chronic or purulent discharge from the ears is believed to be cured by 

 puttmg a necklace of yellow or amber beads around the neck of the 

 afflicted one. 



In the above-mentioned work-M«eZ und Eumte-\% a recipe which has 

 also been found in practice. It is nothing more nor less than a mixture of 

 lime water and oil in such proportions as to become semi-solid, after which 

 It IS melted with hog's fat and wax. This is applied daily to the affected 

 limbs, in the form of a plaster. 



It has frequently been reported that there are certain persons who are 

 possessed of the power of curing, what is locally termed white swellin"- 

 by the laying-on of hands and the recitation of certain secret formulae °i 

 have as yet not personally met with any one who had such a reputation. 

 The belief may probably be a survival of the older custom of the royal 

 touch. King James II, becoming wearied at such a ceremony, was relieved 

 by merely holding one end of a string while the other, terminating in a 

 loop, was put over the head and neck of each subject presented • in this 

 manner the influence passed from the king's hand to the string, and from 

 the string to the patient's body. 



"Kerchiefs dipped in King Charles' blood were found to have as much 

 efhcacy in curing the king's evil as had the living touch,"* and " in 1838 

 failing the royal touch, a few crowns and half-crowns, bearincr the effi-y 

 of Charles I, were still used in the Shetland islands as remedies for the 



* WiUiam George Black. Folk-Medicine, Lond., 1883, p. 100. 



