RANDOLPH. — MANDRAGORA IN FOLK-LORE AND MEDICINE. 489 



Mention of the plant is more common in Greek than in Latin litera- 

 ture. Outside the medical and botanical writers the almost universal 

 nature of these allusions is to its narcotic powers, which were proverbial. 

 Its earliest uses seem to have been purely medicinal, but observation of 

 its quieting effect when properly administered, together with the fact 

 that when given in too large quantities it sometimes produced serious 

 mental disturbance, seems to have led to the belief that it possessed 

 peculiar power over the mind. Perhaps as a result of this belief, a body 

 of superstitions began to grow up around it; some of these may have 

 been connected with it from their beginning, but many of them were 

 evidently transferred to it later from other plants which shared some of 

 its properties. 



A prominent feature of the mandragora superstition at all times has 

 been the story of the peculiar ceremonies gone through with before 

 digging the plant. The use of such preliminaries was apparently very 

 common with the ancient root-diggers (pt^oro/Aot) and they employed 

 them in the case of various plants. Naturally a weird story of perils 

 incurred in obtaining a plant strengthened belief in its magic powers and 

 added to its commercial value. 



Theophrastus, in his History of Plants,* gives an interesting account 

 of this practice of the root-diggers, from which it appears that some of 

 these preliminaries were practical, such as the anointing of exposed parts 

 of the body, or taking care to stand with the wind at one's back when 

 about to dig a plant from which pungent odors arose ; others, such as 

 the digging of certain plants only by night, avoiding the sight of certain 

 birds, and the like, are to be regarded as wholly unnecessary and simply 

 the arbitrary inventions of the root-diggers. 



It is in this passage of Theophrastus that we first find a digging 

 ceremony mentioned in connection with the mandragora : 



Theopbr., 9. 8. 8 : Around the mandragora one must make three circles 

 witli a sword, and dig looking toward the west. Another per.'^ou must dance 

 about in a circle and pronounce a great many aphrodisiac formulas. 



Pliny gives about the same account : 



In presenthig tliis paper I wisli to express my thanks to Professor M. II. Morgan, 

 of Harvard University, who suggested tiie subject to me, and who has aided me 

 witli his advice at many stages of its preparation. 



* 9. 8. 4-8. 



