288 FLINT'S NATTTKAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII. 



side of the body, and an even number of vowels of the like 

 infirmities on the left. 



(4.) It is said, that if a person takes a stone or other missile 

 which has slain three living creatures, a man, a boar, and a 

 bear, at three blows, and throws it over the roof of a house 

 in which there is a pregnant woman, her delivery, however 

 difficult, will be instantly accelerated thereby. In such a case, 

 too, a successful result will be rendered all the more probable, 

 if a light infantry lance 71 is used, which has been drawn from 

 a man's body without touching the earth ; indeed, if it is 

 brought into the house it will be productive of a similar result. 

 In the same way, too, we find it stated in the writings of 

 Orpheus and Archelaiis, that arrows, drawn from a human 

 body without being allowed to touch the ground, and placed 

 beneath the bed, will have all the effect of a philtre ; and, 

 what is even more than this, that it is a cure for epilepsy if 

 the patient eats the flesh of a wild beast killed with an iron 

 weapon with which a human being has been slain. 



Some individuals, too, are possessed of medicinal properties 

 in certain parts of the body ; the thumb of King Pyrrhus, for 

 instance, as already 72 mentioned. At Elis, there used to 

 be shown one of the ribs 73 of Pelops, which, it was generally 

 asserted, was made of ivory. At the present day even, there 

 are many persons, who from religious motives will never clip 

 the hair growing upon a mole on the face. 



CHAP. 7. PROPERTIES OF THE HUMAN 'SPITTLE. 



But it is the fasting spittle of a human being, that is, as 

 already n stated by us, the sovereign preservative against the 

 poison of serpents; while, at the same time, our daily experience 

 may recognize its efficacy and utility, 75 in many other respects. 

 We are in the habit of spitting, 76 for instance, as a preservative 

 from epilepsy, or in other words, we repel contagion thereby : 



71 "Hasta velitaris." 72 In B. vii. c. 2. 



73 It is the shoulder-blade of Pelops that is generally mentioned in the 

 ancient Mythology. Pliny omits to say of what medicinal virtues it was 

 possessed. 74 In B. vii. c. 2. 



75 It certainly does seem to be possessed of some efficacy for the removal 

 of spots and stains, but for no other purpose probably. 



76 In some parts of France, the peasants spit in the hand when in terror 

 of spectjres at night. In our country, prize-fighters spit in the hand before 

 beginning the combat, and costermongers spit on their morning's handsel, 

 or first earned money, for good luck. 



