CHAPTER XVIII 

 CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS 



THE advance of civilization has naturally had consider- 

 able effect on the customs and superstitions of the 

 various races of the world. While the witch-doctor 

 or medicine -man is still in evidence, much of his power 

 has gone, and it is only a question of time when he will 

 have disappeared for ever. But apart from the 

 " medicine-man," there are many curious customs and 

 quaint superstitions described by explorers, and it is 

 interesting to make a selection of these. 



Lady Lawson describes a curious Japanese supersti- 

 tion in her volume on this country. 1 " Behind en<- 

 lightened Japan of to-day," says Lady Lawson, " lies 

 a long, winding road of superstition and quaint belief, 

 which has endured for more than twelve centuries, and 

 still exerts a powerful influence over the mind of the 

 people in general. Many of their superstitions are 

 connected with animal lore, and from olden times down 

 to the present day the fox and the badger have played 

 a most important part in ancient folk stories. Legends 

 of animals who take human form and speak with human 

 voices are related, not as fairy-tales but as sober, 

 historical facts ; and so universal is the belief in the 

 1 See Bibliography, 52. 



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