NO. 1667. COLLECTION OF ROSARIES— CASANOWICZ. 355 



ordinances are extant prohibiting monks from ha^nng beads of coral, 

 crystal, amber, etc., and nuns from wearing beads around their necks. 

 On the other hand, beads were openly carried as a sign of penance, 

 especially by bands of pilgrims visiting in procession the shrines, 

 churches, and other holy places of Rome, and wearing of the beads 

 at one's girdle was a distinctive sign of membership in a religious 

 confraternity. The religious military orders, notably the Knights 

 of St. John (founded in the twelfth century), adopted the rosary as 

 part of the equipment of the lay members, who were required by their 

 constitution to say 150 paters each day. 



By the devout beads were especially valued if they had been worn 

 by a person of known sanctity, or if they had touched the relics of 

 some saint, in which case they were believed to be the instruments of 

 miraculous power and healing virtue. The oriental Christians atfect 

 rosaries made in Jerusalem and other holy places of Palestine. 



Another contrivance for counting j^rayers in the middle ages was 

 the so-called '" decade rings," or " rosary rings." They were finger 

 rings having ten knobs, or bosses, at intervals all around a hoop ; 

 some had an eleventh kngb of larger size, indicating ten aves and 

 one i^ater. An additional twelfth knob marked the repetition of the 

 Creed. Sometimes the knobs were separated from one another by 

 three small beaded dots, perhaps symbolic of the Trinity. They 

 Avere worn by some classes of the religious during the hours of repose, 

 so that on awakening during the night they might repeat a certain 

 number of prayers, marking them by the beads or knobs on the ring." 



78. Catholic rosary. — The full or greater Dominican rosary of 

 15 decades of beads for the aves and 15 larger ones for the paters 

 are made of ebony. The cross, of the same material, is framed in 

 silver-plated nickel, Avith the figure of Christ on one side and a 

 crown of thorns with a burning heart inside, of the same metal, on 

 the other. Length, 6 feet 9^ inches. (Plate 28, fig. 1. Cat. No. 

 179075, U.S.N.M.) Collected^ by Dr. G. Brown Goode. 



79. Catholic rosary. — The full or greater Dominican rosary. The 

 beads for the aves are of glass, while those of the paters, as also the 

 three introductory beads are of composition. Length, 4 feet 4 inches. 

 (Cat. No. 179075, U.S.N.M.) Collected by Dr. G. Brown Goode. 



80. Catholic rosary. — The lesser Dominican rosary of five decades 

 of beads for the aves and five larger beads for the paters, made of 

 mahogany, with four sets of double circles, or " eyes," carved on each. 

 The cross is likewise formed of beads. Length, 5 feet 3 inches. 



(Plate 28, fig. 2. Cat. No. 179075, U.S.N.M.) Collected by Dr. G. 

 Brown Goode. 



" Compare William Jones, Finger-riug Lore. Historical, Legendary, Anec- 

 dotal, London, 1890, pp. 248-253. 



