ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS. 157 



is composed of a central limb, which may mean a 



degraded tree or the finished top of a pole, such as our 



carpenters frequently turn at the 



end of an upright post ; and two 



lateral limbs, tied on to the 



middle one by either one, two, 



or three turns of a string. The 



lateral limbs, I see every reason 



to believe, are the ' luck-horns ' ^ ^^ ^ „ , 



Fig. 83. — Horns and ' fleur-de- 

 of Assyria ^^^'' '™''^'^'^ ^y horse-shoes. 



Whatever may have been the channel of introduction 

 of this emblem into Europe, we only require to put the 

 oriental charm side by side with that of French royalty 

 to be satisfied of their identity, although this emblem, 

 both in Assyria and elsewhere, had undergone various 

 modifications. 



Count d'Alviella ^ says : " Nothing is so contagious as 

 a symbol, unless it be a superstition, and when both are 

 combined we get the fancies of ancient people, who never 

 adopted a symbol without attaching to it some talismanic 



virtues Even in these days tourists returning 



from Naples wear coral horns, either on bracelets or 

 attached to watch chains. Do they think to find therein 

 a preservative against the evil eye in this Italian survival 

 of an old Chaldean symbol ? " 



^ ' Migration of Symboles,' p. 25. 



