44 SEX LORE 



from the body would appear most efficacious; so the 

 lover would try to impart his love to the girl of his 

 choice by sending her a lock of his hair, in the hope 

 that, as the lock contained part of his personality, 

 contact with the gift might imbue her with the same 

 feeling as he had towards her. Something that has been 

 in close contact with the body, or, better still, that 

 has been permeated with the sweat of the lover, will 

 also do this service. Another method resorted to for 

 " charming " the beloved person is to get some 

 article of apparel, sing a charm over it and get that 

 person to wear it. Such person then will, according 

 to the saying, see " lightning " on receipt of it, and 

 it will make " the inwards shake with emotion." 

 In ancient India the girl would make a clay image of 

 her lover, and shoot an arrow through the place where 

 the heart would be, thus thinking to pierce his heart 

 with love as she pierced that of the image. In one 

 part of Germany, during the Middle Ages, an effigy 

 of the figure of the beloved or of his heart was made 

 out of wax or some other such substance, with the 

 name of the beloved person inscribed on it, and this 

 was then either melted or burnt. Four-leaved clover 

 stuck into the shoe is still considered a lucky love- 

 charm in many European countries. 



Love philtres of all sorts of fantastic brews, or of 

 foods with a few hairs of the lover baked in, or 

 other substances which would seem most nauseous 

 to us, have been used and are still made use of in 

 remote country places. These are given to the person 

 on whom an impression is to be made, and who par- 

 takes of them unknowingly. A famous instance is 

 that of Tristan and Isolde, who were consumed with 



