A\' A R 1 -C H A u ^r T X f i . 321 



repairing the roads lia})])ened to notice this girl's hands, and 

 enquired whether she would like to get rid of those unsightly 

 excrescences. The reply was, of course, in the affirmative. 

 The man said nothing more, but after a time all the warts had 

 vanished. It does not appear that any hint was given to the 

 voung woman to lead her to expect a cure. But the man 

 could never he prevailed upon to explain what he had done to 

 bring about the result ; his re])ly always was, " I am not going 

 to tell anybody." 



It would not have been difficult to obtain particulars 

 of other interesting cases of wart-charming, mostly varying 

 more or less in the particular method or formula of the charm, 

 but all of them producing the same result, namely, the 

 mysterious disappearance of the warts after a short time. 

 One Avould very much like to have some explanation of 

 the operating cause. If it were in every case necessary that 

 the " patient " should do something special, so as to exercise a 

 certain amount of will-poAver and active faith in the charm, we 

 should perhaps find in that some clue to the mystery ; but 

 that this is not essential is clearly ])roved by several of 

 the cases I have described. 



A careful study of the whole question of Folklore often 

 brings one face to face with apparent results that are 

 really startling. Coincidence, of course, does not imply 

 causation. But, having regard to the doctrine of probabilities 

 and averages, one meets with many things that it seems 

 difficult to relegate to the region of mere chance. And yet we 

 still incredulously ask : How could the one possibly produce 

 the other ? 



In these days when the discovery of such elements as 

 radium, and the practical application of wireless telegraphy to 

 the needs of everyday life, have wrought such a marvellous 

 revolution in the concepts even of physical science, it behoves 

 us not to be too dogmatic about that far subtler and more 

 elusive perception that is metaphysical. The mysteries and 

 marvels of to-day are constantly becoming the mere common- 

 places of to-morrow. And Ave live among such a jostling 

 crowd of accomplished impossibilities that we seem to be 

 absolutely losing the very faculty of wonder. 



One is often tempted to ask oneself : Was there really 

 more truth in some of those old-world beliefs than Ave moderns 

 have been led to credit them Avith ? Were those old worthies 

 who held such beliefs as thoroughly deluded as Ave have 

 aUvays thought them to be ? It seems hard to say. Probably 

 the most reasonable thing to do is to go on carefully collecting 



