158 FLORA OF THE 



Scarabs, in ancient Egyptian times, were probably kept 

 for similar purposes, and according to d'Alviella they 

 have been found by thousands from Mesopotamia to 

 Sardinia. Not improbably the Phoenicians may have 

 traded in these luck-charms, as also in other talismans. 

 The author says that trade, slavery, and other minglings 

 of peoples and money, were the chief means by which 

 symbols were transmitted and disseminated. 



If we do as geologists do, viz. endeavour to read the 

 past by what is going on before our eyes nozv, we shall 

 find that horns were then, as now, used as antidotes 

 against the evil eye ; that is, they brought ' luck ' wherever 

 they were placed. We are, therefore, justified in assuming 

 that the modern superstition is only a survival of the 

 ancient ' luck ' emblem. Luck in those days, as now, 

 was another word for Providential help ; and Providence 

 may have been connected with some special god, and 

 so horns became his or her emblem. 



Of all oriental superstitions, the evil eye superstition 

 would appear to be the most oriental. It is one of those 

 superstitions that will 'die hard'! for there are still 

 those whose interest it is to keep people ignorant of 

 the discoveries of scientific investigators, and as long as 

 there is ignorance somewhere, this and other similar 

 superstitions will find a soil to grow in, and be propagated. 



