Curious Customs and Beliefs 357 



collected round her. In this way he would sometimes 

 cause them to settle on his head, or to hang clustered from 

 his chin. Again, he would transfer them to his hand, or to 

 any other part of his body, or would cause them to settle 

 on a table, window, etc. Prior to making his secret gen- 

 erally known, he deceived his spectators by using words of 

 command ; but the only magic he employed was to sum- 

 mon into activity the strong attachment of the bees to 

 their queen. 



Cautioning his readers as to attempting what he himself 

 accomplished only by long experience and great dexterity, 

 Wildnian concludes his account with a parody of the reply 

 of C. Furius Cresinus, a liberated Roman slave, who, being 

 accused of witchcraft in consequence of his raising more 

 abundant crops than his neighbors, and therefore cited 

 before a Roman tribunal, produced his strong implements 

 of husbandry, his well-fed oxen, and a hale young woman, 

 his daughter, and pointing to them, said, " These, Romans ! 

 are my instruments of witchcraft ; but I cannot show 

 you my toil and anxious cares." " So," says Wildman, 

 "may I say, These, Britons ! are my instruments of witch- 

 craft ; but I cannot show you my hours of attention to this 

 subject, my anxiety and care for these useful insects ; nor 

 can I communicate to you my experience, acquired during 

 a course of years." 



We hear of naked priests in India who live in the forests 

 alone with the bees and are continually swarmed over by 

 them. 



There is a story of a negro whom the bees accompanied 

 wherever he went, and who, like Wildman, could wear 

 them as a cap upon his head ; and of a Pole whose every 

 motion the bees obeyed. 



In short, similar stories are innumerable, and doubtless 

 it is true that the operator has possession of the queen-bee ; 



