316 CAUSES OF DEGENERATIVE EVOLUTION 



married, 1 and in Belgium, 2 as in Brittany, 3 if the 

 image prove too hard, the reminding pin is stuck 

 instead into a fissure, or into the door of the niche 

 containing the image. Besides these mere vestiges 

 of pre-historic customs and belief, by referring to 

 certain illustrated documents bearing upon the 

 subject, it would be easy to work out the connec- 

 tion between the worship of saints which is pre- 

 valent in Belgium in the present day, and the 

 pagan worship of the ancient Celts and Germans. 4 



1 Bulletin de Folklore, i., 250-251. 



2 Ibidem. 



3 The menhir of the Pierre-Frite in the valley of Lunain. In 

 nearly every hole or fissure of this monument, a nail or pin has 

 been stuck by the young people of that part in the belief that it 

 will ensure them a speedy marriage. (Revue des traditions popu- 

 lates, 1893, p. 448.) 



4 See for Saint Eloi, Mtlusine, viii., 122-132; for Saint Martin, 

 Bulletin de Folklore, i., 309-315 ; for Saint Hubert, Gaidez, La 

 Rage et Saint Hubert. 



