UNNATURAL NATURAL HISTORY 55 
describe by its turnings, the initials of their 
future husband’s name.” 
It was also said of the greatly maligned 
toad that a person would die should he eat a 
leaf of a tree beneath which one of the creatures 
had burrowed, while to handle a living one 
would cause the venturesome person to have 
a violent attack of cramp. Should, however, 
a horse, cow, or sheep have cramp or a sudden 
illness, the cause of the malady was believed 
to be due to a shrew having crawled over the 
victim, and in order to give relief to the sufferer 
it was necessary to, place a leaf plucked from 
a shrew-ash upon the affected part—the shrew- 
ash being an ash tree that had been specially 
medicated by having a hole bored in its trunk 
with an auger, and a live shrew imprisoned 
within the cavity. When once a tree had 
been prepared in this manner, its healing 
properties were said to last for ever. 
Another method by which shrew-struck 
horses were treated was to drag the animal 
through the enclosed area made by a branch 
of a bramble, the upper end of which had bent 
down and taken root again in the earth. That 
the shrew was regarded with much disfavour 
in the past may be judged by quoting the 
words of Topsell, who states: “ It is a ravenous 
beast feigning itself gentle and tame, but 
