572 MEDICINE-MEN OF THE APACHE. 



&quot; The girdle was an essential article of dress, and early ages ascribe 

 to it other magic influences: e.g.,Thor s divine strength lay in his girdle.&quot; 1 

 In speaking of the belief in lycantrophy he says: &quot;The common belief 

 among us is that the transformation is eifected by tying a strap round 

 the body; this girth is only three fingers broad, and is cut out of 

 human skin.&quot; 2 Scrofulous tumors were cured by tying them with a 

 linen thread which had choked a viper to death. 3 &quot; Filniii rubrum se- 

 raceum [silk] cum quo strangulata fuit vipera si circumdatur collo an 

 gina laborantes, eundem curare dicitur propter idem strangulationis et 

 suffocationis.&quot; 4 



&quot; Quidani commendant tanquam specificum, ad Anginam fllum pur. 

 pureuni cum quo strangulata fuit vipera, si collo circumdetur.&quot; 5 



&quot;MEDIDAS,&quot; &quot;MEASURING COEDS,&quot; &quot;WRESTING THREADS,&quot; ETC. 



Black says: 6 &quot;On the banks of the Ale and the Teviot the women 

 have still a custom of wearing round their necks blue woollen threads or 

 cords till they wean their children, doing this for the purpose of avert 

 ing ephemeral fevers. These cords are handed down from mother to 

 daughter, and esteemed in proportion to their antiquity. Probably 

 these cords had originally received some blessing.&quot; 



Black s surmise is well founded. These cords were, no doubt, the same 

 as the &quot; medidas &quot; or measurements of the holy images of Spain and other &amp;gt; 

 parts of Continental Europe. &quot; The ribands or serpent symbols [of 

 Our Lady of Montserrat] are of silk, and exactly the span of the Vir 

 gin s head, and on them is printed medida de la cabeza de Nuentra 

 Senora Maria Santinima de Montserrat, i. e., exact head measurement 

 of Our Lady of Montserrat.&quot; 7 



These same &quot; medidas &quot; may be found in full vogue in the outlying 

 districts of Mexico to-day. Twenty years ago I saw them at the 

 &quot; funcion&quot; of San Francisco, in the little town of Magdalena, in So- 

 nora. I watched carefully to see exactly what the women did and ob 

 served that the statue of St. Francis (which, for greater convenience, 

 was exposed outside of the church, where the devout could reach it 

 without disturbing the congregation within) was measured from head 

 to foot with pieces of ribbon, which were then wrapped up and packed 

 away. In reply to my queries, I learned that the &quot;medida&quot; of the 

 head was a specific for headache, that of the waist for all troubles in 

 the abdominal region, those of the legs, arms, and other parts for the 

 ailments peculiar to each of them respectively. This was in a commu 

 nity almost, if not absolutely, Roman Catholic; but in the thoroughly 

 Protestant neighborhood of Carlisle, Pa., the same superstition exists 



1 Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, vol. 3, p. 1094, footnote. 

 Ibid., p. 1096. 



3 Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. 30, cap. 12. 



4 Etmiiller, Opera Olnnia, Lyons, 1690, vol. 2, pp. 282, 283, Schroderii Dilucidati Zoologja. 

 B Ibid., p. 278a. 



6 Black, Folk.Mcdicine, London, 1883, p. 113. 



Forlong, Rivers of Life, London. 1883, vol. 2, p. 313. 



