168 WASPS AND THEIR WAYS 



" It was an awful sight," says the chron- 

 icle, and one would think it might be I 



Saint Veronica, who had been healed by 

 touching the hem of Christ's garment, 

 fortunately for the afflicted emperor, pos- 

 sessed a miraculous cloth, on which was 

 imprinted a perfect likeness of Christ's 

 face. This cloth she took to Rome and 

 held up before the face of the unfortunate 

 emperor, who believed, and was straight- 

 way cured. 



Wasps have been used for other pur- 

 poses than to cure their own stings, and 

 they have been known — or believed — to 

 bestow good, instead of ill, upon mankind ; 

 for the ancients, we are told, attribute 

 "great vertue to the distilled water, and 

 likewise to the decoction of common 

 wasps." 



Also, the large sheets of paper that 

 envelop hornets' nests are used for polish- 

 ing spectacles in some country places, and 

 the nests themselves are burned and in- 



