72 Conception, Birth and Infancy in 



256 G. Amalfi, op. cit. (see note 191), 67; L. De Nardis, Le medichesse del 

 miracolo nella romagna", 77 folklore italiano, VIII (1929), 174-177; cf. A. Posse- 

 Brazdova, Sardinian Sideshow, 150-151; Z. Zanetti, Za medicina, 11. Their secret 

 nostrums for man and beast are passed down as family traditions among the crones 

 of the village: G. Di Giovanni, "Usi, costumi, pratiche, credenze e pregiudizi del 

 novarese", Archivio, V (1886), 447-448. See also P. Riccardi, "Pregiudizi e 

 superstizioni del popolo modenese", Arch, per I'antropol, XX (1890), 333-337. 



257 Cf. M. Pasquarelli, op. cit. (see note 4), 55-56. 



258 Cf., e.g., Z. Zanetti, La medicina, 11; 160-161; 130: on livid marks that 

 are attributed to vampires who have been sucking sustenance from the child 

 while it was still in the womb. See also E. Canziani, op. cit. (see note 45), 246. 



259 Z. Zanetti, La medicina, 130; 150. This accords with Pennsylvania Ger- 

 man belief: E. M. Fogel, op. cit. (see note 24), 49, No. 121. But cf. S. La 

 Sorsa op. cit. (see note 246), 4, where a belief is reported that such a Dentatus 

 of today is destined to prosper. On the idea that the phenomenon is something 

 to be dreaded see C. J. S. Thompson, The Hand of Destiny, 23. The 'average 

 age for the first appearance of teeth, regularly the two lower central incisors, is 

 six months. It is unusual enough for even these two to be in at birth, but there 

 may be even more, e.g., eight. Sometimes they are extracted to enable the 

 mother to nurse. See G. Sellew, Pedriatic Nursing, 23; and, in general, on Dentio 

 Praecox C. G. Grulee and B. E. Bonar, The Newborn, III, 130; E. L. Stone, 

 The Newborn Infant, A Manual of Obstetrical Pediatrics, 235; J. Garland, The 

 Youngest of the Family, 23. 



2 ™N.H. 7. 68-69. On the phenomenal record of the latter cf. Gell. 2.11. 



261 One of the portents noted in the De Prodigiis of Julius Obsequens, 66. 



262 A comprehensive account of orris-root: A. H. Murray, Sketches on the 

 Old Road through France to Florence, 280-285; cf. also E. Strasburger, Rambles 

 on the Riviera (a translation by O. and B. C. Casey of Streifzilge an der Riviera), 

 307. 



263 p or a j on g jj st f t fj e objects that he may mumble see A. De Nino, op. cit. 

 (see note 66), II, 35. 



264 N. H. 28.258; Seren. Sammon, Lib. Medicin. 1031-1032. 



265 N.H. 30.136; cf. 30.24 26Q N.H. 30.137. It is also used in a recipe for 

 an intestinal procidence. 267 N.H. 30.138. 2e8 N.H. 30.139. 



269 N.H. 28.257. For an English survival: Notes and Queries, Ser. 2, VIII 

 (1859), 326. 270 N.H. 32.137. 



271 Z. Zanetti, La medicina, 150. A hyacinth (red zircon) may be used: 

 Nonne e bambini, 25. I can find, however, no ancient parallel for that modern 

 superstition that teething the upper teeth first prognosticates nearness of death, 

 because they suggest by their appearance the mattocks that are used in the ex- 

 cavation of a grave: S. La Sorsa, op. cit. (see note 78), 58-59. 



272 Z. Zanetti, La medicina, 150. It is advisable also to bathe them with some 

 of the blood which spurts out when a cock's comb is cut off: Z. Zanetti, Nonne e 

 bambini, 24-25. The use of the brains of a hare for a fretful baby is not confined 

 to Italy: cf. Notes and Queries, Ser. 6, I (1880), 34. 



2 ™N.H. 28.259; 30.135; cf. 30.139; Seren. Sammon. Lib. Medicin. 1033-1034. 



274 Z. Zanetti, La medicina, 151; 254. 



