Mard Bird, in “Persian Women and Their Creed,” tells the following:
A Persian Haji’s baby had convulsions and the parents brought
it to the Mohammedan village teacher, who said the child was
possest, and the only remedy for her disease was for them to buy
a prayer of the exact length of the child, and strap it on her
back. The child was so long that the cost of the prayer was five
dollars, and the parents decided that a girl baby was not worth
that much and took her home to die.
(1794)