BOURKF..] MAGICAL CORDS. 575 



by the process of spitting upon the cord :it the termination of each 

 spell, it was finally delivered over to the Dankali about to be sent on 

 the quest.&quot; Stanley describes the &quot;lords of the cord&quot; at the court of 

 Mtesa, king of Uganda, but they seem to be provost officers and exe 

 cutioners merely. 1 &quot; In cases of quartan fever they take a fragment of 

 a nail from a cross, or else a piece of a halter that has -been used for 

 crucifixion, and after wrapping it in wool, attach it to the patient s 

 neck, taking care, the moment he has recovered, to conceal it in some 

 hole to which the light of the sun can not penetrate.&quot; 2 There is a wide 

 spread and deeply rooted belief that a rope which has hanged a man, 

 either as a felon or suicide, possesses talismanic powers. :| Jean Hap- 

 tiste Thiers 4 says: &quot;II y a des gens assess fous pour s imaginer qu ils 

 serout heureuxanjeu . . . pourvni qu ils ayent sur eax un morceau 

 de corde de pendu.&quot; Brand says: ! remember once to have seen, at 

 Newcastle upon Tyne, after a person executed had been cut down, men 

 climb upon the gallows and contend for that part of the rope which 

 remained, and which they wished to preserve for some lucky purpose or 

 other. I have lately made the important discovery that it is reckoned 

 a cure for the headache.&quot; 5 &quot;A halter with which one had been hanged 

 was regarded within recent times in England as a cure for headache if 

 tied round the head.&quot; 6 



In the long list of articles employed by the ancients for the purpose 

 of developing affection or hatred between persons of opposite sex, 

 Burton mentions &quot;funis strangulati hominis.&quot; 7 &quot;A remarkable super 

 stition still prevails among the lowest of our vulgar, that a man may 

 lawfully sell his wife to another, provided he deliver her over with a 

 halter about her neck. It is painful to observe that instances of this 

 frequently occur in our newspapers.&quot;&quot; While discussing this branch 

 of the subject, it might be well to peruse what lias already been 

 inserted under the head of the uses to which were put the threads 

 which had strangled vipers and other serpents. 



UNCLASSIFIED SUPERSTITIONS UPON THIS SFRIECT. 



In conclusion, I wish to present some of the instances occurring in my 

 studies which apparently have a claim to be included in a treatise upon 

 the subject of sacred cords and knots. These examples are presented 

 without comment, as they are, to all intents and purposes, u survivals,&quot; 

 which have long ago lost their true significance. Attention is in 

 vited to the fact that the very same use seems to be made by the 



Black. Folk-Moilirine, p. 1IT.. 



Anat my of Melancholy, vul. 2, pp. 288, 290. 



lirauil, Pop. Ant., vol. 2 p. 107. 



