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complete list is found at the end of the text.
CURRENT SUPERSTITIONS
COLLECTED FROM THE ORAL
TRADITION OF ENGLISH
SPEAKING FOLK
EDITED BY
FANNY D. BERGEN
_WITH NOTES, AND AN INTRODUCTION BY_
WILLIAM WELLS NEWELL
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
Published for The American Folk Lore Society by
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
LONDON: DAVID NUTT, 270, 271 STRAND
LEIPZIG: OTTO HARRASSOWITZ, QUERSTRASSE, 14
1896
Four hundred and fifty copies printed,
of which this is No. ----
Copyright, 1896,
BY THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
_All rights reserved._
_The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A._
Electrotyped and Printed by H.O. Houghton and Company.
PREFACE.
In the "Popular Science Monthly" for July, 1886, there was printed a
somewhat miscellaneous assortment of customs and superstitions under the
title: _Animal and Plant Lore of Children_. This article was in the main
composed of reminiscences of my own childhood spent in Northern Ohio,
though two or three friends of New England rearing contributed personal
recollections. Seldom is a line cast which brings ashore such an abundant
catch as did my initial folk-lore paper. A footnote had, by the advice of
a friend, been appended asking readers to send similar lore to the
writer. About seventy answers were received, from all sorts of
localities, ranging from Halifax to New Orleans. These numerous letters
convinced me that there was even then, before the foundation of the
national Society, a somewhat general interest in folk-lore,--not a
scientific interest, but a fondness for the subject-matter itself. Many
who do not care for folk-lore as a subject of research are pleased to
have recalled to them the fancies, beliefs, and customs of childhood and
early youth. A single proverb, superstition, riddle, or tradition may, by
association of ideas, act like a magic mirror in bringing back hundreds
of long-forgotten people, pastimes, and occupations. And whatever makes
one young, if only for an hour, will ever fascinate. The greater number
of those who kindly responded to the request for additional notes to my
animal and plant lore were naturally those of somewhat literary or
scientific tastes and pursuits. Many letters were from teachers, many
others from physicians, a few from professional scientists, the rest from
men and women of various callings, who had been pleased by suggestions
that aroused memories of the credulous and unreflecting period in their
own lives. The abundant material thus brought in, which consisted of
folk-lore items of the most varied kind, was read gratefully and with
pleasant surprise.
The items were assorted and catalogued after some provisional fashion of
my own. Succeeding papers issued in the "Popular Science Monthly" brought
in further accessions. I gradually formed the habit of asking, as
opportunity offered, any one and every one for folk-lore. Nurses abound
in such knowledge. Domestic help, whether housekeepers, seamstresses, or
servants, whether American or foreign, all by patient questioning were
induced to give of their full store.
The folk-lorist who chances to have a pet superstition or two of his own
that he never fails to observe, has an open-sesame to beliefs of this
sort held by any one with whom he comes in contact. The fact that I have
(I blush to confess it) a preference for putting on my right shoe before
the left has, I dare say, been the providential means of bringing to me
hundreds of bits of folk-lore. Many times has the exposure of this
weakness instantly opened up an opportunity for asking questions about
kindred customs and superstitions. I once asked an Irish peasant girl
from County Roscommon if she could tell me any stories about fairies. "Do
ye give in to fairies then, ma'am?" she joyously asked, adding, "A good
many folks don't give in to them" (believe in them, _i.e._, the fairies).
Apparently she was heartily glad to meet some one who spoke her own
language. From that hour she was ever ready to tell me tales or recall
old sayings and beliefs about the doings and powers of the "good people"
of old Ireland.
A stewardess, properly approached, can communicate a deal of lore in her
leisure hours during a three or four days' ocean trip. Oftentimes a
caller has by chance let drop a morsel that was quickly picked up and
preserved.
The large amount of botanical and zoölogical mythology that has gradually
accumulated in my hands is reserved for separate treatment. Now and then
some individual item of the sort appears in the following pages, but only
for some special reason. A considerable proportion of my general
folk-lore was orally collected from persons of foreign birth. There were
among these more Irish than of any other one nationality, but Scotch and
English were somewhat fully represented, and Scandinavians (including one
Icelander), Italians, a Syrian, a Parsee, and several Japanese
contributed to the collection.
It has been a puzzling question to decide just where to draw the line in
separating foreign from what we may call current American folk-lore. The
traditions and superstitions that a mother as a child or girl heard in a
foreign land, she tells her children born here, and the lore becomes, as
it were, naturalized, though sometimes but little modified from the form
in which it was current where the mother originally heard it. Whether to
include any folk-lore collected from oral narrators or from
correspondents, even if it had been very recently brought hither, was the
question. At length it has been decided to print only items taken down
from the narration of persons born in America, though frequent parallels
and numberless variants have been obtained from persons now resident
here, though reared in other countries.
It would be a most interesting task to collate the material embraced in
the present collection with the few published lists of American
superstitions, customs, and beliefs, and with the many dialect and other
stories, the books of travel, local histories, and similar sources of
information in regard to our own folk-lore. Equally valuable would be the
endeavor to trace the genesis of the most important of the superstitions
here set down. But the limits of the present publication make any such
attempt wholly out of the question, and the brief notes which are
appended refer to but a few of the matters which invite comment and
discussion.
Some few repetitions have been almost unavoidable, since not infrequently
a superstition might consistently be classified under more than one head;
besides, it is not unusual to find that varied significations are
attributed to the same act, accident, or coincidence. When localities are
wanting it is sometimes because the narrator could not tell where he had
become familiar with the items communicated; again, a chance
correspondent failed to note the locality. In putting on paper these
popular beliefs and notions, the abbreviated, often rather elliptical,
vernacular in which they are passed about from mouth to mouth has to a
great extent been followed.
It is impossible here to name the legion of individuals from whom the
subject-matter of the various chapters of this volume has been gathered.
But thanks are especially due to the following persons, who have
contributed largely to the contents of the book:--
Charles Aldrich, Webster City, Iowa.
Miss Ellen Beauchamp, Baldwinsville, N.Y.
John G. Bourke, Capt. 3d Cavalry U.S.A., Ft. Ethan Allen, Vt.
Miss M.A. Caller, A.C.F. College, Tuskeegee, Ala.
John S. Caulkins, M.D., Thornville, Mich.
Miss Ellen Chase, Brookline, Mass.
Miss Ruth R. Cronyn, Bernardston, Mass.
Uriah A. Greene, Flint, Mich.
Professor George M. Harmon, Tufts College, Mass.
W.J. McGee, U.S. Geol. Survey, Washington, D.C.
Hector McInnes, Halifax, N.S.
John B. Nichols, Washington, D.C.
John G. Owens,[viii-1] Lewisburg, Pa.
Prof. Frederick Reed, Talladega, Ala.
Mrs. Amanda M. Thrush, Plymouth, O.
Miss Helen S. Thurston, Providence, R.I.
Rev. A.C. Waghorne, New Harbor, N.F.
Miss Susan Hayes Ward, "The Independent," New York, N.Y.
Miss Ellen L. Wickes, Chestertown, Md.
Above all am I indebted to Mr. Newell, whose generous coöperation and
advice have been invaluable to one working under peculiar hindrances.
FANNY D. BERGEN.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., 1. 15. 1896.
[viii-1] Deceased.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
I. BABYHOOD 21
Baptism.--Physiognomy.--Introduction to the World.--First
Actions.--Various.
II. CHILDHOOD 26
Asseveration.--Challenge.--Fortune.--Friendship.--
Mythology.--Punishment.--Sport.--Various.
III. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 32
Beauty.--Dimple.--Ears.--Eyes and Eyebrows.--
Finger-nails.--Foot.--Forehead.--Hair.--Hand.--Moles.--
Nose.--Teeth.
IV. PROJECTS 38
Apples.--Apple-seeds.--Babies.--Bed.--Bible.--Birds.--
Buttons.--Four-leaved Clover.--Counting.--Daisy Petals.--
Doorway.--Eggs.--Fingers.--Garments.--Letters of the
Alphabet.--Midnight.--Plants.--Ring.--Stars.--Tea-leaves.--
Walking Abroad.--Water.--Various.
V. HALLOWEEN AND OTHER FESTIVALS 55
VI. LOVE AND MARRIAGE 59
Engagement.--Attire of the Bride.--Lucky Days.--The
Marriage Ceremony.--Courting and Wedding Signs.
VII. WISHES 67
VIII. DREAMS 70
Animals.--Colors.--Dead Persons.--Earth.--Eggs.--Fire
and Smoke.--Human Beings.--Meteorological Phenomena.--Money
and Metals.--Teeth.--Water.--Weddings and Funerals.--
Miscellaneous
IX. LUCK 79
Cards.--Days.--Dressing.--Horseshoes.--Pins.--Salt.--
Sweeping.--Turning Back.--Miscellaneous.
X. MONEY 87
XI. VISITORS 89
XII. CURES 94
Amulets.--Charm.--Water.--Miscellaneous.
XIII. WARTS 101
Causes.--Cures.
XIV. WEATHER 106
Cold.--Days and Times.--Fair or Foul.--Moon.--Rain.--Wind
and Storm.
XV. MOON 117
Divination.--Fortune.--Moonlight.--Wax and Wane.
XVI. SUN 123
Domestic and Mechanical Operations.--Cures.
XVII. DEATH OMENS 125
XVIII. MORTUARY CUSTOMS 131
XIX. MISCELLANEOUS 134
Actions.--Bodily Affections.--Apparel.--Customs.--Days.--
Domestic Life.--Various.
NOTES 151
CURRENT SUPERSTITIONS.
INTRODUCTION.
The record contained in the present volume forms the first considerable
printed collection made in America of superstitions belonging to
English-speaking folk. Numerous as are the items here presented, only a
part of the matter is included, the collector having preferred to reserve
for separate presentation superstitions connected with animal and plant
lore, material which would require a space about equal to that here
occupied. Again, the present gathering by no means pretends to
completeness; while certain departments may be adequately represented,
other sections exhibit scarce more than a gleaning. The collection,
therefore, will be looked on as a first essay, subject to revision and
enlargement.
The designations of locality will suffice to show the width of the area
from which information has been obtained, as well as the degree of
similarity which appears in the folk-lore of different regions belonging
to this wide territory. Here and there may be observed items showing a
measure of originality; a new superstition may have arisen, or an ancient
one been modified, according to the fancy of an individual, in
consequence of defective memory, or in virtue of misapprehension. But on
the whole such peculiarities make no figure, nor does recent immigration
play any important part. Almost the entire body of this tradition belongs
to the English stock; it is the English population which, together with
the language, has imposed on other elements of American life its polity,
society, ethics, and tradition.
This relation is not an isolated phenomenon; on the contrary, it is
entirely in the line of experience. Language is the most important factor
which determines usage and influences character; this result is effected
through the literature, oral or written, with which, in virtue of the
possession of a particular speech, any given people is brought into
contact. In this process race goes for little. Borrowing the tongue of a
superior race, a subject population receives also the songs, tales,
habits, inclinations which go with the speech; human nature, in all times
essentially imitative, copies qualities which are united with presumed
superiority; to this process not even racial hostility is a bar;
assimilation and transmission go on in spite of hatred directed against
the persons who are the object of the imitation; such a process may be
observed in the recent history of Ireland.
Reception of new ideas, however, though promoted by the possession of a
common language constituting a means of exchange, is not limited by its
absence; on the contrary, in all historical time among contiguous races
takes place a transference of ideas which dislike and even warfare do not
prevent. Here the law seems to be that the lower culture has relatively
little effect on the higher with which it is in contact, while the
superior civilization speedily influences an inferior one. Nor is the
effect confined to the higher classes of any given society; beginning
with these, the new knowledge descends through all ranks, and everywhere
carries its transforming influence. What is true of written literature in
a less degree is true of oral; songs and tales, rites and customs,
beliefs and superstitions, diffuse themselves from the civilization which
happens to be in fashion, with a rapidity greater or less according to
the interworking of a multitude of modifying forces. In the other
direction, from the lower culture to the higher, exchange is slow, albeit
likely to be promoted, in certain cases, by peculiar conditions, such as
the deliberate literary choice which seeks opportunity for archaistic
representation, or the respect which an advanced race may have for the
magical ability of a simple tribe, believed to be nearer to nature, and
therefore more likely to remain in communion with natural forces.
But these exceptional effects are of small relative moment; the general
principle, continually at work, in the main controls the result. In
regard to the themes of stories especially, the many tongues and dialects
of Western Europe offer scarcely more variation than will be often found
to exist among the versions of the same tale which may be discovered in a
single canton. The spirit of the language, already mentioned as
constituting the element of nationality, taking possession of this common
stock of knowledge, moulds its precise form and sentiment in accordance
with its own character; it is in details, rather than in outlines, that
racial differences are found to exist; this principle applies in a
considerable degree in the field of folk-tales, even between cultures so
opposite as those of Western Europe and Western Africa.
In the case of superstitions, the diffusive process, though less rapid or
effectual than in tales, is nevertheless continually active; in Europe,
at least, a similar identity will probably be discovered. But in this
category the problem of separating what is general, because human, from
that which is common, because diffused, always a complicated task, will
be found more difficult than in literary matter, and without the aid of
extensive collection insoluble. It is possible to fall back on the
consideration that, after all, such resolution matters not very much,
since in any case the survival of the belief indicates its humanity, and
for the purpose of the study of human nature borrowed superstitions may
be cited as confidently as if original in the soil to which they have
emigrated, and where they have indissolubly intertwined themselves with
thought and habit.
Again, it is to be considered that while differences of speech impede,
but do not prevent integration, changes of condition may have an
immediate effect in producing differentiation. Protestantism, by
banishing complicated usages connected with sacred days, has caused
English folk-lore to vary from Continental; so far this contrast seems a
result of the alterations of the last three hundred years, rather than of
more remote inconsistency.
If these remarks are in any degree valid, it follows that from the
presence or absence of any particular item of belief in this or that
English-speaking district no conclusion is to be drawn; the deficiency
must be supposed to proceed from absence of record, and seldom to depend
on the structure of the population. To this general doctrine, as usual
with such propositions, may be observed minor exceptions. Whatever doubts
may be cast on the operation of the principle as applicable to England,
there can be no doubt that it is valid in the United States and Canada.
It is not, however, intended to assert that the contributions of the
entire region covered in this collection are identical in character. On
the contrary, it will be seen that the record made in certain districts,
as for example in Newfoundland and among the Mountain Whites of the
Alleghanies, presents superstition as more primitive and active than in
the eastern United States. But this vitality is only to be regarded as
the persistence of a stock once proper to English-speaking folk, and by
no means as indicating a diversity of origins.
The chief value of a collection such as the present consists in the light
it may be made to cast on the history of mental processes; in other
words, on its psychologic import.
To appreciate this value, it is needful to understand the quality in
which superstition really consists. This distinguishing characteristic is
obscured by the definitions of English dictionaries, which describe
superstition as a disease, depending on an excess of religious sentiment,
which disposes the person so affected to unreasonable credulity. In the
same spirit, it has been the wont of divines to characterize superstition
and unbelief as opposite poles, between which lies the golden mean of
discreet faith. But this view is inadequate and erroneous.
The manner of conception mentioned has been borrowed from Latin and Greek
writers of the Roman republic and of the Imperial period. In primitive
Roman usage, _superstitio_ and _religio_ were synonyms; both, perhaps,
etymologically considered, expressed no more than that habit of careful
consideration with which a prudent man will measure the events which
encounter him, and determine his conduct with a view to consequences.
_Superstitio_ may have indicated only the _overstanding_ of the
phenomenon, the pause necessary for its deliberate inspection. By Cicero
a distinction was made; the word was now employed to designate a state of
mind under the influence of supernatural terrors. In the Greek tongue a
similar conception was expressed by the word _deisidaimonia_, or fear of
dæmons, a term in bad odor as associated with practices of Oriental
temple worship representing primitive conceptions, and therefore odious
to later and more enlightened Hellenic thought. Established as a synonym
of the Greek noun, _superstitio_ received all the meaning which Plutarch
elaborated as to the former; the idea of that excellent heathen, that
true piety is the mean between atheism and credulity, has given a sense
to the word superstition, and become a commonplace of Christian hortatory
literature.
It is, however, sufficiently obvious that the signification mentioned
does not have application to the omens recorded in the present volume,
the majority of which have no direct connection with spiritual beings,
while it will also be allowed that these do not lie without the field
ordinarily covered by the word superstition. For our purposes, therefore,
it is necessary to enlarge this definition. This may be done by
emphasizing the first component part of the word, and introducing into it
the notion of what has been left over, or of survival, made familiar by
the genius of Edward B. Tylor. In these lingering notions we have
opinions respecting relations of cause and effect which have resulted as
a necessary consequence from past intellectual conditions. A
superstition, accordingly, I should define as a belief respecting causal
sequence, depending on reasoning proper to an outgrown culture. According
to this view, with adequate information it would be possible to trace the
mental process in virtue of which arise such expectations of futurity,
and to discover the methods of their gradual modification and eventual
supersession by generalizations founded on experience more accurate and
extensive. Yet it is not to be assumed that in each and every case such
elucidation will be possible. In all human conduct there is an element
which cannot be designated otherwise than as accidental; this uncertainty
appears to be greater, the reaction against the natural conditions less
definite, the more primitive is the life. It is impossible to forecast in
what manner a savage may be impressed by an event of which he can note
only external conditions, or how his action may respond to the
impression. One may guess what opinion an augur would form concerning the
appearance of a single eagle or raven; but it would be labor lost to
attempt to conjecture the manner in which the imagination of the observer
would explain a flight of these birds, or what complicated rules augural
art might evolve to guide the interpretation.
This accidental quality, and the arbitrariness with which phenomena are
judged to be ominous, will be visible in the numerous "signs" here
recorded. At first sight, it may be thought that extreme folly is their
salient quality. Yet if we take a wide view the case is reversed; we are
surprised, not at the unintelligibility of popular belief, but at its
simplicity, and at the frequency with which we can discern the natural
process of unsystematic conjecture. Such judgments are not to be treated
with derision, as subjects of ridicule, but to be seriously examined, as
revealing the natural procedure of intelligence limited to a superficial
view of phenomena.
This consideration leads to an important remark. The term survival
expresses a truth, but only a part of the truth. Usages, habits,
opinions, which are classed as superstition, exhibit something more than
the unintelligent and unconscious persistence of habit. Folk-lore
survives, and popular practices continue, only so long as endures a
method of thinking corresponding to that in which these had their origin.
Individual customs may be preserved simply as a matter of thoughtless
habit; yet in general it is essential that these usages should be related
to conscious intellectual life; so soon as they cease to be so
explicable, they begin to pass into oblivion.
The chapters of this collection, therefore, will emphasize the doctrine
that the essential elements of human nature continue to exist, however
opposite may be the actions in which its operations are manifested. In
examining many of the maxims of conduct here set forth, we are able to
understand the motives in which they had their being; we perceive that
the inclination has not disappeared, however checked by mediation through
complex experience, and however counteracted by the weight of later
maxims. The examiner finds that he himself shares the mental state of the
superstitious person; if not, he can easily make an effort of imagination
which will enable him to comprehend its evident reasonableness. Thus,
while superstitions are properly designated as survivals, it will in many
cases be found that they represent a survival of ratiocination as well as
of action.
In some striking examples, also, it happens that the modern notion
indicates the continuance of conceptions more ancient than a mass of
connected ideas which have wholly perished. The former endure, because,
being simple in their nature, they represent a human impulse, an impulse
which animated the prehistoric ancestor as well as the modern descendant.
When this tendency ceases to operate, the plant suddenly withers. So it
is that an elimination of these beliefs, which formed the science of
remote antiquity, has taken place in our own century, which has worked a
change greater than fifty preceding generations, because it has been able
to introduce generalizations with which ancient notions and habits are
perceived no longer to coincide.
As illustrations of the psychologic value of the material, it may be
permitted to offer brief comments on the several sections.
In the usages of mothers and nurses, it is interesting to observe with
what persistence survives the conception that the initial action of the
series determines the character of events sequent in order. It is still a
universal practice to consecrate every baby by a rite not ecclesiastical.
The infant, on his first journey, must be taken to a height symbolic of
his future fortune, an elevation believed to secure the prosperity of his
whole subsequent career. It would be of interest to learn what analogies
the practice has among races in a primitive condition of culture. The
babe of the Pueblo of Sia, when on the fourth day (four being a sacred
number) for the first time he is taken from the dark chamber, is ritually
presented to his father the Sun; similarly, in a superstition of the
present series (I know not how generally observed) Sunday is said to be
the day on which the infant is first to be carried into the sunshine. It
is likely that such continuing customs represent feeble echoes of
pre-Christian dedicatory ceremonies, which in the first instance were
themselves founded on a corresponding habit of thought; according to an
opposite, yet connected system of notions, we find Protestant
Christianity still preserving a memento of the world-old and universal
belief in a crowd of malicious spirits, prepared at every moment to take
up their residence in the convenient shelter of the human frame, as a
hermit crab watches for a suitable shell in which to make his home. It
must be owned that the volume of observances connected with infancy, here
presented, is very inadequate; it is certain that a nurse of a century
ago would have been familiar with a vastly more extensive array of duties
and cautions. As we go back in time and culture, action becomes more
restricted. Where the effects of any line of conduct are unknown,
adherence to precedent is all-important; every part of the life must be
administered according to a complicated system of rules, while common
prudence is considered as inseparable from religious obligation.
The following section presents us with interesting material, in the
exhibition of ideas and customs which are maintained by children
themselves, and which they learn from one another rather than from their
elders. It is true that these are of necessity the reflection of the
conceptions and practice of older persons; but, according to the law of
their nature, it is found that children often exhibit a peculiar
conservatism, in virtue of which habits of thought still exercise
control, which among men and women have been outgrown. This is
illustrated in popular games and songs which children have orally
preserved; and the same is true of their superstitions. Women,
especially, who may peruse this collection will be surprised to find how
many of the items here recorded will seem familiar, and at the same time
to have received credence; in the case of a particularly clear-minded
person, free from any disposition toward credulity, nearly a hundred of
these superstitions were remembered. The ideas in question, perhaps at no
time more than half believed, have frequently altogether faded into
oblivion.
Attention should be paid, also, to the imaginative power of the youthful
mind, and the manner in which beliefs are visualized, and appear as
realities of perception. To illustrate this principle have been included
a few examples belonging rather to individual than to general opinion.
The little girl who without any direct instruction imagines that the
light of the heaven gleams through the orifices we call stars, who sees
celestial beings in meteor form winging their way across the skies, or
who is surrounded by the benevolent spirits which her discriminating
education, banishing the terrors of the supernatural world, has permitted
to exist for her comprehension, illustrates that readiness of fancy and
control of vision by expectation which belongs to humanity in the reverse
degree of the reflective habit. Herein childish conceptions and vivacity
of feeling represent the human faculty which education may control but
cannot obliterate.
Beliefs relating to the influence of physiognomy present us with a very
limited anthology of popular ideas, which in elaborate developments have
been expanded into pseudo-sciences, and fill whole libraries of learned
misinformation. These notions may be divided into two classes. On the one
hand appear indications founded on natural analogies, as when we still
speak of close-fistedness. On the other side, many of these associations
are arbitrary, as when the study of spots on the nails is supposed to
give means for determining future fortune. Such conclusions depend partly
on the correct opinion that in the cradle lies the future man, with all
elements of his complex nature, and partly on external marks, the
interpretation of which is purely arbitrary.
The chapter on "Projects" presents the reader with a class of usages,
sufficiently foolish when considered in themselves, but none the less
demanding attention, as exhibiting, in full energy, the survival, at the
end of the nineteenth century, of the practice of divination. It is true
that these attempts to forecast the future are commonly made in a
sportive manner and only with partial belief, being now for the most part
reduced to social sports. They belong also almost exclusively to the
female sex, who by way of amusement still keep up rites which are to
determine the future partner in life. Yet that these observances were
formerly performed with sober forethought may be seen by the
superstitious character with which in retired districts they are still
invested; it is likely that in this limited field we have the final
echoes of ceremonies employed to determine action and to supply means for
the estimation of every species of good or evil fortune. Among these
customs a considerable part may be of relatively recent origin, but a
number are undoubtedly ancient.
Particularly remarkable is the word by which in the English folk-lore of
America, at least, these practices seem to have been popularly entitled.
Dictionaries give no aid in explaining the signification of the word
"project," here used in the sense of a ceremony of divination. I cannot
offer any explanation as to the probable antiquity of the term; neither
middle-Latin nor Romance languages seem to offer parallels. One might
guess that if all were known, the use might be found to proceed from the
special language of mediæval magic or astrology (perhaps
mirror-divination).
With practices of this sort has been connected an incident of colonial
history. During the accusations brought against alleged witches of Salem,
Massachusetts, in 1692, the chief agents were a group of "children"
belonging to a particular neighborhood of that town. It has been asserted
that these young persons, previous to the outbreak of the excitement,
formed a "circle" of girls in the habit of meeting for the purpose of
performing "magical tricks" (to use a phrase employed by Cotton Mather),
and that it was experience so acquired that fitted them for the part
afterwards played in the trials. This statement has been repeated by so
many recent writers as to become a commonplace of accepted history; it
would seem, however, that the representation depends on the invention of
a modern essayist, who transferred to the colonial period ideas derived
from his acquaintance with the phenomena of contemporary spiritualistic
_séances_, and that the habit of "trying projects," no doubt universal in
colonial times, had nothing to do with the delusion in question. (See
note, p. 153.)
Ancient popular divination would, as a matter of course, have taken a
ritual character, and been associated especially with particular seasons.
It is therefore more than an accident, that many of these harmless
observations seem especially connected with Halloween. The Day of All
Saints, of which name our English title is a translation, precedes that
of All Souls; for the institution and significance of both the church has
its explanation. Yet this account is not the correct one: these feasts
descend, not from any Christian ecclesiastical ordination, but from an
ancient festival of the dead; they represent the survival of a
celebration which probably consisted in the bestowing on the departed,
after the ingathering of the harvest, his share of the fruits of the
ground, conveyed by direct material administration. That at such a period
spirits of the dead should be supposed to walk the earth, would be a
matter of course; in early time these would be conceived as returning in
order to behold and join the sacred dances of the tribe. Accordingly,
there seem to be indications showing an original association of some of
these usages with the lower world; such may be the significance of the
backward movement, or the inversion of garments, occasionally
recommended. In order to put one's self in connection with the world of
darkness, it is essential to reverse the procedure which is proper for
the realm of light. This principle, appearing in mediæval magic, could
also be illustrated from savage custom. It can hardly be doubted that the
limitation of such forecasts to the field of choosing partners for life
is but a survival of an older practice, in which divinations of fortune
in other directions also were sought; on the day sacred to the dead, it
may be that the latter, as having power and knowledge, were invoked to
act as illuminators. The stress laid on dreams appears to imply a
practice of evoking spirits, whether of the deceased or of the living.
In the division entitled "Love and Marriage" we are dealing not with
ceremonies, but "signs;" in the former case a voluntary action is implied
in the consulter of fate; in the latter, the subject is passive. The word
"signs" is a popular term for omens of any kind; in this case we cannot
be in error in seeking a Latin derivation, _signum_ being classically
used in this sense. Here, again, the prognostics in question are
respected only by women, and at the present time, with but a light
admixture of genuine credulity, unless among people of secluded
districts, retaining old-world notions. Foolish as are these ideas of
sequence, they indicate a habit of association anciently prevalent, which
in early times had the most serious consequences.
The gathering of expectations relating to "Wishes" shows that the name
and idea of folk-lore must not be limited to primitive beliefs, or to the
ideas of uneducated persons. The assumption that an occurrence, neither
unusual nor characterized by any correspondent quality, may promote the
fulfilment of a contemporaneous desire, illustrates the arbitrary nature
of a considerable part of this lore. Nevertheless, it cannot be doubted
that many of these beliefs, if they could be followed back to their
origins, would be found to exhibit some process of consistent though
erroneous reasoning, as exhibited in the case of wishes made with
reference to the state of the moon, hereafter to be mentioned. It is also
to be observed that prayer to the evening star forms a feature of the
usages in question.
Of dreams we are presented with a series in some degree representing
their function in surviving belief. The comparison of these with dream
books, still sold and used, and with a more extensive collection of
superstitions, retained in this and other continents, would no doubt
offer curious results. At present attention may be called only to one
remarkable trait, namely: the interpretation of dreams by contraries.
This practice I conceive to be altogether modern, and to have resulted
from the extension of scientific culture, which has lead to the discredit
of more direct explanations. So far as I am aware, dreams in literature,
ancient or mediæval, are always presumed symbolically to represent the
future, and to be capable of straightforward interpretation.
The usages of folk-medicine form a wide subject, which would occupy many
volumes such as the present; a mere bibliography of the literature could
not be included in the number of pages here allowed. The gleaning, also,
is in this case very imperfect; the greater number of such "Cures" would
fall in that part of the subject here omitted, relating to the function
of animals and plants. In this field, conceptions formerly operative have
not yet disappeared; "the doctrine of signatures," that is to say, the
rule that the healing object is indicated by its resemblance to the organ
affected, has scarcely passed into oblivion, while popular systems of
treatment are still based on rules not essentially different. In addition
to this guiding idea, an exorcistic method has survived; in our folk-lore
is retained the removal of the trouble in virtue of its transfer to
another place or person. Especially in the significant case of warts,
such rule of early medicine operates with full force. Here, as in other
instances, the obscure influence of suggestion plays a complicated part;
belief in the efficacy of any system of treatment appears sufficient to
promote its effect. These charms are perhaps sometimes effective, even
although no conscious attention is paid to the process; but to enter on
this field would be foreign to the present discussion. It is sufficient
to point out that in popular belief the preservation of the theory goes
hand in hand with the survival of the practice.
Weather proverbs form an extensive body of popular observations, here
only partially recorded. From the psychologic point of view, the
principal interest attaches to the mental causes of these prognostics.
Collectors have generally assumed that in this field experience is at the
basis of a great part of the alleged knowledge. It may be so with a few
of the simpler signs; yet, even in respect to these, great diversity is
visible. In general, I should myself attach small importance to this
consideration. Remarkable in man regarded as an intellectual being is the
variation to be observed in the effect of experience. In certain
relations of daily life the savage is as quick to learn, and as accurate
in his judgment, as civilized man; mention need only be made of his skill
in the hunt, and his intimacy with the forest. But under complicated
conditions, whenever this action falls outside of daily habit, he appears
incapable of profiting by observation; on the contrary, it is usually
imagination which dictates presumed experience. The latter rarely
corrects a superstition; as already remarked, discovery of error in the
application of inherited theory is applied only to increase the
complexity of the formula. Not until the existence of a means of record,
and the formation of a body of observations capable of methodical
arrangement, is an erroneous belief superseded, when the true causes of
the events become manifest; of this principle ideas respecting the
weather constitute good illustrations.
Students of this collection will be surprised by the number and vitality
of formulas and beliefs relative to the moon. It is probable that the
majority of the readers of the male sex will have no other associations
with the newly born moon than that poetic sentiment which delights in the
vision of the faint sickle silver through the twilight; if they possess
any further association with the planet, it is likely to be no more than
a vague dread of the effect of its radiance falling on a sleeper. Women,
on the contrary, will remember that the moon should be first seen not
"full face," but "over the the[TN-1] right shoulder;" they will be aware
that with such vision may be united a wish, to which jesting fancy
assigns a probability of accomplishment. But these, also, will be
surprised by the discovery that lunar divination is maintained with
profound seriousness, and that the honor paid to the orb is nothing else
than a continued worship, still connected with material blessings
expected from its bounty.
This record reveals the central principle and natural cause of moon
worship, by making clear the effect still ascribed to the variation of
the luminary. It is the night which is especially the season of primitive
worship; from times long antecedent to written history, as well among the
lowest savages as among tribes possessing the beginnings of civilization,
changes of the starry heavens have been the object of devout
contemplation and of reverent study. To the watcher it is the rapid
growth of the lunar crescent that is the most distinctive feature of
differences between the nights, an alteration which could not but be
supposed to exercise control over human and animal life. According to
natural processes of thought, it was inevitable that during the time when
it so rapidly increases, and becomes dominant in the sky, the principle
of growth should appear to prevail; and on the other hand, that the time
of lunar diminution should be the season of decay. Hence the conclusion,
probably prevalent in all times and countries, that designs and
undertakings which expect increase should belong to the new moon, and
that only operations which aim at the annihilation of existence should be
carried on during the waning quarter. In Hellenic antiquity, the dark of
the moon is mentioned as the suitable time for magical operations; for
such, no doubt, as were concerned with a forwarding of life. Our
collection exhibits the full survival of the usage and theory. It is the
new moon to which is dedicated the money that under its expanding
influence will be sure to multiply; it is at such time that the seed is
to be put into the ground. On the contrary, the abolishment of pests and
diminution of objects in which shrinkage is desired may be obtained by
connecting these with the waning sphere.
Lunar change has had an important connection with ancient myth as well as
with primitive ritual. For the reason indicated, the crescent was
assigned as an emblem to goddesses of growth. This ornament passed from
Cybele and Diana to Mary; as on the vault of St. Mark's the Virgin wears
the starry robe of the earlier goddess, so on garden walls of Venice she
stands crowned with the crescent, in the same manner as the divinities
whom she has superseded. In this connection is especially to be
considered the habit of personification implied in our English rhymes. Of
late, the doctrine which perceives in myth a symbolic expression of the
forces of nature has fallen into comparative discredit, a contempt
explicable in view of the unscientific manner in which "sun-myths" have
been exploited; our English sayings, therefore, are to be received as a
welcome demonstration that one must not proceed too far in his attitude
of doubt. If the popular mind, to-day, and in a country particularly
accessible to the influences of modern culture, worships the personified
moon, it may be considered as certain that antiquity did the like.
Mythology is woven out of so many strands that goddesses like Artemis and
Diana may have been much more than lunar personifications; but I think it
can scarce be doubted that in a measure such they were.
There is to be noted a most important characteristic of modern
superstition, namely, that the original usage, and also the primitive
theory, has sometimes continued the longest, because founded on the
broadest and most human foundation. The modern survival exhibits those
fundamental conceptions out of which grew the complicated rites and
elaborate mythologies of ancient religions. In this manner, as from a
height of observation, we are able to look back beyond recorded history,
and to trace the principles of historic development. So may be elucidated
problems which neither metaphysical speculation nor historical research
has proved adequate to expound. Comparative study of folk-lore has placed
in our hands a key which ingenious theorists, proceeding with that
imperfect knowledge of antiquity which can be gathered from books, have
lacked, and for the want of which they have wandered in hopeless error.
In modern folk-belief the influence of the sun is less directly apparent.
The custom of saluting the rising orb, with which the day was once begun,
or of ascending high places where the benediction of the luminary could
be obtained, and the direct reverence to solar rays belonging to all
primitive life, survives only in the vague symbolism which, until very
lately, has caused churches to be built on hills. But a single essential
feature of sun-worship still survives, not only among ignorant and
isolated peasants, but in the households and among the matrons of
educated English-speaking folk. To this significant relic, so far as I
know, Mrs. Bergen has been the first to direct attention. That the sun
moves in a particular course must have been one of the first observations
which primitive man made in regard to the movements of celestial bodies.
His cardinal rule being to perform everything decently and in order, it
followed that the precedent set in heaven was to be imitated on earth. In
any operation for which success must be sought, progress must be
sun-wise; the reverse order could be suitable only for operations of
destructive magic, tending to undo natural sequences. Nevertheless, even
primitive man has a passion for originality, a desire to obtain
peculiarly intimate relations with nature, which may be to the advantage
of his own people; probably from this consideration certain American
tribes have reversed the ceremonial order, so far at least as to make
their processional movements in the opposite direction; but our modern
customs or household life show, among the ancestors of English folk, that
the sun-wise circuit entered not only into the religious life, but also
mingled with and directed the most ordinary actions. Little does the
modern housewife, who in beating the egg instinctively stirs her spoon in
one direction,--a form of movement usually recommended by no conscious
association of ideas,--imagine that in the method of her action she is
bearing testimony to the deepest ethical and ceremonial conceptions of
remote ancestors; yet there can be no doubt that such is the case. Here
also prevails the remarkable principle to which attention has already
been directed. The mythology of the ancient worship has perished, but the
notion which inspired the ritual practice has survived; sun-worship is
thus shown to have been characteristic of our forefathers, as indeed, in
all probability, it was an original feature of primitive human life. In
this case, also, could we go back a little way in time, we should
probably find a conception of the sun as a personal being united with
usages arising from contemplation of this path.
It is always found that especial conservatism attaches to customs and
ideas associated with death; the disinclination to exercise independent
thought on a subject so serious leaves the field open for the continuance
of ancestral notions and practices. It is therefore natural that the
volume of superstition associated with the end of life should only be
paralleled by that connected with the marriage relation. A vast number of
actions and experiences still pass as the "signs" of approaching
departure. As in omens generally, the prevailing principle is usually the
effect of association of ideas; the shock to the nerves consequent on the
imagination of the occurrence is, in the popular fancy, inseparable from
belief in its reality. Hence the general tendency to insist on
euphemistic speech, the required abstinence from unpleasant suggestions,
the _favete linguis_ of the Roman. In this body of deeds to be avoided,
ancient and modern notions are interwoven. One must not pass under a
ladder, for a ladder is used in modern executions; one must not carry a
spade through the house, for with a spade is dug a grave. More in
accordance with fundamentally human ideas, the delicate rose of fall
presages the untimely waning of a youthful life. As with all
superstition, the sign is not merely the prediction of an event; it is
felt that as the avoidance of the omen would be to escape its
consequence, so the careless action, in becoming the presage of calamity,
is likewise its cause. Here appear natural antinomies of human thought:
on the one hand, the sense of the inevitableness of the designated fate;
on the other hand, the consciousness of ability by altering conditions to
change conclusions. Thus the thoughts and actions of primitive man are
inspired by the same contending intellectual forces which in later time
appear under the guise of warring philosophies.
Still more remarkable are the remains of world-old usage, wherein may be
remarked tendencies which have formerly been expressed in elaborate
rituals. In customs relating to death, a controlling feature is that
sense of individual possession which has been prevalent from a time
antecedent to the rudimentary beginnings of civilization. To early man,
doubt is but a change of state; the head of the household, in his place,
be it the tumulus erected for his shelter, be it the distant land to
which his spirit has been transported, holds the same rights and is
entitled to the same privileges which on earth he enjoyed. His wives, his
slaves, his steeds, his arms, are his own,[TN-2] property, which none dare
meddle with, inasmuch as the departed, now more than heretofore, has the
power to enforce his title. In a measure, therefore, these possessions
must accompany him on his voyage, and remain with him in his new abode.
But this deprivation is too great: in the natural course of things, the
living cannot waive so much and continue to live. A part is given for the
whole; substitution takes the place of direct offering. The dead is no
more to be received among the living, bringing with him, as he does, a
claim on other lives; by many methods, by concealment, placation,
substitution, ritual exile, he must be banned to the place where only on
occasions he may be sought and consulted. One of these methods of
avoidance is the habit of making the return of the funeral procession so
intricate that the spirit may be deceived in its attempt to retrace the
route; it is perhaps a consequence of this manner of thought that even
now, in retired districts, it is held unwise for the mourners to return
on the same path by which they proceeded.
These usages change their character, inasmuch as the original intent of
ceremonial actions being forgotten, acts intended to secure more
practical ends are performed in order to correspond to supposed
obligations of decency. Such is the case with the arrangement of the
chamber of death, with the stoppage of the clock, of which traces are
found in customary usage; so it is with the inversion of garments, of
which also in our lore traces seem to linger. Different, perhaps, is the
idea underlying the covering of the mirror; indications show that the
practice was once extended to all objects in the room, which formerly
seems to have been draped with white cloth. The object appears to have
been to protect domestic objects from the contamination caused by contact
with the dead, which would protect them from subsequent employment by the
living, who otherwise could not with safety associate themselves with the
other world, just as even at the present time it is not held lucky to
wear the garments of the departed. In the same manner the Mosaic law
commanded the Israelite to cover, at the time of death, the vessels used
in his tent. It has been remarked that white, and not black, is the
proper color for such drapery. The association of white with the dead, as
the hue of mourning, is ancient; it appears to me that the idea of ritual
purity, expressed by the color, is at the bottom of the custom. In
Hellenic times white continued to be the hue most closely associated
with the dead, albeit black, as the sign of melancholy, was also
introduced. The character of funeral rites, from Western Europe to Japan,
exhibits a similarity which, in my judgment, is to be explained only on
the supposition of very early and long continued historical contact,--a
contact otherwise demonstrable.
On the other hand, a world-old custom, which may be set down as human and
universal, dictated, and among all nomadic peoples continues to dictate,
the abandonment of any habitation in which a death has occurred. The
obvious motive is expressed in a surviving superstition that a second
decease is likely to follow a first. Death, naturally impersonated and
identified with the spirit of the departed, will return to the place
where he has once made himself at home, and in which he has proprietary
rights. This idea constitutes a superstition which stands directly in the
way of progress; thus the Navajo refuses to build a house, which at the
first mortality among his family it would be necessary to desert. The
cause of the general custom is to be sought, not in any sanitary
principle, but in the associations explained, acting with superstitious
force. In the course of time and with the advance of culture such
desertion is no longer possible, and some means must be found by which
the requirement shall be evaded; the desired escape is effected by such
alterations as shall vary the character of the mansion and indicate it as
a new place of abode, not subject to the perils of the home invaded by
death.
The remarks which have been offered are presented only by way of
suggestions which could be indefinitely extended. To construct a
commentary on the body of beliefs presented in this volume would be an
enticing but a laborious task; such notes, also, would far exceed in
volume the compass of this work. Besides, as originally remarked, the
present collection contains but a part of the volume of surviving
superstitions. For these reasons, it will be possible to proceed no
farther.
In commending this collection to the attention of psychologists, and to
the continuing industry of students of folk-lore, I need only express my
hope that it may be sufficient to make clear how far-reaching are the
studies for which folk-lore supplies material. The history of religion,
the theory of mythologies, cannot afford to overlook modern popular
beliefs, in which ancient conceptions appear as still effective. In the
same way, archæology, regarded only as the investigation of monuments and
literatures, and dissociated from the observation of continuing human
life, is devoid of inspiration and vitality. These studies, when
accompanied with disregard of the existing world, and indifference to the
fortunes and relations of humanity as a whole, remain not only
incomplete, but positively misleading, and devoid of their best claim on
respect and attention. It is to be hoped that this interesting
collection, made under so many difficulties, will have a useful effect in
helping to emphasize this truth, and to render obvious the possible uses
of traditional information.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., Dec. 24, 1895.
CURRENT SUPERSTITIONS.
CHAPTER I.
BABYHOOD.
1. The bairn that is born on fair Sunday
Is bonny and loving, and blithe and gay.
Monday's bairn is fair in the face,
Tuesday's bairn is full of grace,
Wednesday's bairn is loving and giving,
Thursday's bairn works hard for a living,
Friday's bairn is a child of woe,
Saturday's bairn has far to go.
_Massachusetts._
2. Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is sour and sad,
Thursday's child is merry and glad,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child must work for a living;
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is blithe and bonny, good and gay.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
(Some put it, Sunday's child shall never know want.)
3. He who is born on New Year's morn
Will have his own way as sure as you're born.
4. He who is born on an Easter morn
Shall never know want, or care, or harm.
5. A child born on a saint's day must bear the saint's name. It is
unlucky to take away the day from it.
_Catholic superstition._
6. Thursday has one lucky hour, just before sunrise, for birth.
BAPTISM.
7. If a child cries during baptism, it is the devil going out of it.
_Niagara Falls, Ont._
8. It is lucky for the child to cry at baptism, but unlucky for the
godmother to wear mourning.
9. If twins are brought to baptism at the same time, christen the boy
first, or else he will have no beard, and the girl will be beggared.
PHYSIOGNOMY.
10. An open hand in a baby is a sign of a generous disposition, but a
habit of closing the fingers indicates avarice, or, as we say,
closefistedness.
_Cambridge, Mass._
11. If a child "favors its father," it is good luck for it. It will get
on well in the world.
_Salem, Mass._
12. A baby that has two crowns will live in two continents or kingdoms.
_Massachusetts._
13. A double crown on the head means that the owner will "break bread in
two kingdoms."
_Northern Ohio._
14. "Two crowns will never be satisfied." This is a sign of a very
changeable disposition.
_Chestertown, Md._
15. A baby born with a veil over its face has good luck.
_General._
16. A child born with a veil over its face will never be drowned. Many
sailors are known to wear the caul, with which they were born, about the
person as a charm against death by drowning.
_Sailor's superstition._
INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD.
17. Take the baby first into the sunlight on Sunday. Put it into short
clothes and make all changes on that day.
18. To make a child rise in the world, carry it upstairs (or to the
attic) first.
_Mifflintown, Pa._
19. The baby must go upstairs before it goes downstairs, or it will never
rise in the world.
_Massachusetts._
20. To be a bright baby, it must go up before it is carried down, and it
must be bumped to the attic roof for luck.
_New England._
21. A young baby was taken up a short step-ladder by its nurse before
being for the first time carried downstairs lest it should die before it
was a year old.
_Holyoke, Mass._
22. A child will have a nature and disposition similar to that of the
person who first takes him out of doors.
_Georgia._
23. The first time a baby is taken out of its room, it must be taken up,
or it will not go to heaven. If the door of the room steps down, then the
person carrying the baby must step up on a chair or book with the baby in
her arms.
_North Carolina._
24. Let the baby have or touch the thing he starts after on taking the
first step, and he will always get what he wishes. If it be the moon,
then let him touch something light, on which its light shines.
25. When taking the child into your arms for the first time, make a good
wish for him; if you give him his full name and he opens his eyes and
looks at you (answers to his name), it is good luck.
26. To be a bright baby, it must fall out of the crib before it is eleven
months old.
_Brookline, Mass._
27. If a baby does not fall out of bed, it will be a fool.
_Eastern Massachusetts._
28. A child's tumbling out of bed is a sign he will never be a fool.
_Maine._
29. To drink water out of a bucket which is being carried on a child's
head stops its growth.
_Virginia._
30. To step over a young child stops its growing.
_Virginia._
31. About 1860 the Alabama negresses believed that if any one stepped on
their pickaninnies it would dwarf them.
32. Pass a baby through a window and it will never grow.
_South Carolina._
33. Do not go for the first time into the room where the infant is
without removing the veil and gloves.
34. If the "cradle cap" of a baby be combed with a (fine?) tooth comb,
the child will be blind.
_Labrador._
35. A baby should not look into a glass before it is a year old; if it
does it will die.
_Deer Isle, Me._
36. Hold a baby to a looking-glass, he will die before he completes his
first year.
_Massachusetts._
37. If you let a child look into a looking-glass before it is a year old,
it will cut its teeth hard.
_Baltimore, Md. (negro), and Virginia._
38. It is bad luck not to weigh the baby before it is dressed. When it is
first dressed put the clothes on over the feet instead of the head for
good luck.
39. The common nurse has an objection to weighing a new-born baby.
40. Always give a baby salt before it tastes aught else. The child will
not choke, and in general it is a good thing to do.
_Mansfield, O._
FIRST ACTIONS.
41. If a child cries at birth and lifts up one hand, he is born to
command.
42. If the baby smiles in its sleep, it is talking with angels.
43. If a baby yawns, the sign of the cross should be made over it that
the evil spirit may not enter.
_Niagara Falls, Ont._
44. While tying on a baby's cap repeat,--
Look up there and see a fly,
Look down there and see it die.
Its chin will follow the direction indicated, and the tying is hastened.
_Brookline, Mass._
VARIOUS.
45. First a daughter, then a son,
The world is well begun.
First a son, then a daughter,
Trouble follows after.
_Maine and Massachusetts._
46. First a son, then a daughter,
You've begun just as you oughter.
_Brookline, Mass._
47. Rock a cradle empty,
Babies will be plenty.
_Peabody, Mass._
48. Rock the cradle empty,
Have children a plenty,
Rock the chair empty,
Have sickness a plenty.
_Nashua, N.H._
49. To rock the cradle when the baby is not in it will kill it.
_New York._
50. If the empty cradle be rocked, the baby will have the colic.
_New York and Ohio._
51. The first time a baby is taken visiting, if it is laid on a married
couple's bed there will be a baby for that couple.
_Salem, Mass._
52. The mother who gives away all the clothes of her dead baby will
eventually be comforted by the coming of another child.
53. However many children a woman may have, the last will be of the same
gender as the first, and they will look alike.
_Maine and Massachusetts._
54. One article of an unborn infant's wardrobe must be left unmade or
unbought or the child is liable not to live.
_Salem, Mass._
55. A baby's nails must not be cut with scissors before it is a year old;
it will make it steal.
_North Carolina._
56. To cut a baby's finger-nails deforms it; if the baby is a month old,
to do this will cause the child to have fits.
_Georgia._
57. To allow a child to look into a mirror before it is a month old will
cause it trouble in teething.
_Georgia._
58. Tickling a baby causes stuttering.
_Georgia._
59. If an infant be measured, it will die before its growing time is over.
_Georgia._