SUPERSTITIONS. 193 



with his feet firmly into the earth. This cere- 

 mony was repeated several times on this and 

 subsequent evenings, until the patient's reco- 

 very, which, of course, was considered to have 

 been effected by the wonderful curative proper- 

 ties resident in the crystal. On making inquiry, 

 why the physician is so careful in trampling 

 the saliva discharged from his mouth into the 

 ground, no satisfactory reason could be obtained, 

 a vague answer only being returned to the query ; 

 but it is not improbable that they consider, by 

 this operation, they finally destroy the power of 

 the evil spirit, extracted by the operation, through 

 the virtues of the stone : some such reason for 

 this proceeding may be inferred from an ob- 

 servation made to any European, who may be 

 present at this part of the ceremony, that " He 

 no come up again." 



A somewhat analogous custom exists among 

 the aboriginal tribes of Brazil, called " Gua- 

 chos," as related by Spix and Martius in their 

 Brazilian Travels. (English Trans. 8vo. vol. ii. 

 page 77.) " Their Payes, or physicians, (called 

 in their language, Vunageneto,) are conjurers 

 and exorcists of the evil principle, which they 

 call Nanigogigo. Their cures of the sick are 

 very simple, and consist principally in fumi- 



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