_the wondrous talisman._ The allusion is to the _hippomanes_ or growth
said to be found on the forehead of a new-born foal. Unless the mother
was prevented she devoured it.
_Theocritus_, sc. Id. ii.
_Homer_, e.g. the adventures with Circe.
_Orpheus._ See the Orphica (Abel), _Fr._ 172; Argonaut. 955 sqq.
Lithica 172 sqq.
_Laevius._ The MSS. give Laelius. But no poet Laelius is known. There
was, however, a poet _Laevius_ at the beginning of the first century
B.C.
_the lover's knot._ The Latin is _antipathes_, explained by Abt
(Apologie des Apuleius, p. 103) as _quod mutuum affectum provocat_.
_the magic wheel_ spun rapidly to draw the beloved to the lover. Cp.
Theocr. ii. 30. 'And as this brazen wheel spins, so may Delphis be
spun by Aphrodite to my door.'
_nails._ Portions of the beloved were valuable ingredients in charms.
Cp. Apul. Metamorph. bk. iii, 16, 17, where hair from the beloved's
head is required.
_ribbons_ used as fillets during the ritual. Cp. chap. 30, 'soft
garlands.'
_the two-tailed lizard._ Theocr. ii. 57, testifies to the use of the
lizard as a love charm. A magic papyrus from Egypt (Griffiths
Thompson, col. xiii (23), p. 97) mentions a two-tailed lizard as an
ingredient in a charm to cause death.
_the charm that glads_, &c., sc. _hippomanes_; see note on preceding
page.