108 SEX-LORE 



according to the modern theory of inheritance, 

 parental characters are only transmitted to the 

 children through the germ cells. 



It often happens that for some reason or other the 

 milk ceases to flow before the time for weaning the 

 child. Special precautions are therefore taken to 

 prevent this. The most natural method is to diet 

 carefully, partaking of food that will increase the 

 flow of milk and avoiding food that may lessen 

 it. But superstition holds its sway here also. 

 Thus we find amulets worn for insuring a sufficiency 

 of milk. In the neighbourhood of Perugia in Italy 

 a special pin is worn in the hair for this purpose. 

 In Herzegovina a mother wishing to increase her 

 milk must catch a living fish, squirt some milk from 

 her breast into its mouth, and then let it swim again. 

 By the Caspian Sea in Russia other means are em- 

 ployed for the same purpose. The woman fills a 

 nutshell with quicksilver and closes up the opening 

 with wax. This is then stitched into silk or woollen 

 material or into glove-leather and worn suspended 

 from a ribbon round the neck, so that it hangs well 

 on the breast. In Lithuania there exists a belief 

 that a child whose mother has stopped suckling for 

 a few days, and then started again, will have the 

 evil-eye. In Serbia such children are said to become 

 witches, and have the power with one glance to cause 

 a rider to fall off his horse. 



It has already been pointed out that the normal 

 weaning of the child should occur between the tenth 

 and twelfth month. Some primitive peoples, how- 

 ever, suckle their children for a much longer period. 

 Here again there are many quaint customs which are 



