CURES.
AMULETS.
795. Green glass beads worn about the neck will prevent or cure
erysipelas.
_Chestertown, Md._
796. Gold beads were formerly a protection against the "King's Evil"
(scrofula), and nearly every maiden and matron wore ample strings of
beautiful large beads.
_Adams, Mass._
797. Gold beads worn about the neck will cure sore throat.
_Windham, Me._
798. Gold beads worn about the throat were thought to cure or or prevent
goître.
_Northern Ohio._
799. A string of gold beads is still held to be a preventive of quinsy,
sore throats, and so on.
_New Hampshire._
800. A string of gold beads worn on the neck will cure or prevent quinsy.
_Prince Edward Island._
801. Red beads about the neck cure nose-bleed.
_Cazenovia, N.Y._
802. For nose-bleed wear a red bean on a white string round the neck.
_Bedford, Mass._
803. A black silk cord about the neck cures croup.
_Cazenovia, N.Y._
804. A key worn hanging about the neck by a string prevents nose-bleed.
_Central Maine._
805. Wearing brown paper on the chest will cure sea-sickness.
_Newton, Mass., and Chestertown, Md._
806. Tie a piece of black ribbon around a child's neck, and it will
prevent croup.
_Waltham, Mass._
807. Brass earrings or rings are thought by negroes to keep away
rheumatism.
_Alabama._
808. To cure rheumatism, wear a brass ring on the finger.
_Boston, Mass._
809. Wearing brass rings will prevent cramp.
_Alabama._
810. A brass ring worn on the finger will cure rheumatism.
_Chestertown, Md. (negro)._
811. Sailors wear gold earrings for weak eyes or to strengthen the
sight.
_Brookline, Mass._
812. A common custom among negroes is to wear a leather strap about the
wrist as a cure for rheumatism, sprains, etc., and to give strength.
_Chestertown, Md. (negro)._
813. As a cure for nose-bleed, tie a string about the little finger.
_Cape Breton._
814. A leather string commonly worn around the neck is supposed to
prevent whooping-cough.
_Chestertown, Md._
815. A red string tied about the waist cures nausea or sea-sickness.
_Massachusetts._
CHARM.
816. To keep fire always burning on the hearth will prevent cholera among
chickens.
_Alabama._
817. If a fish-hook pierces the hand, stick it three times into wood, in
the name of the Trinity, to prevent festering or other evil consequences.
_Newfoundland._
818. If you scratch yourself with a rusty nail, stick the nail
immediately into hard wood, and it will prevent lockjaw.
_Salem, Mass._
819. A man who "stuck a nail in his foot" was told by a neighbor to pull
it out, grease it, and hang it up in the "chimbly," otherwise he might
have lockjaw.
_New Brunswick._
820. To cure nose-bleeding, write the person's name on the forehead.
_Newfoundland._
821. For rheumatism, carry a horseshoe nail in the pocket.
_Central New York._
822. To get rid of rheumatism: "You go in de lot an' go up to fence. Den
put you breas' on it and say, 'I lef you here, I lef you here,' tree
times, den you go 'way and don't you never come back dere no more."
_French Canadian._
823. To cure fits, the first time the child or person has one, tear off
the shirt of the patient and burn it up, and no more fits will return.
_Chestertown, Md. (negro)._
824. If you don't want the cramp in your foot, turn your shoes bottom up
at night.
_Nashua, N.H._
825. To keep off nightmare, put your shoes at night with the toes
pointing away from the bed.
_Central New York._
826. To ward off nightmare, sleep with shears under the pillow.
_Central New York._
827. Nightmare is caused by the nightmare man, a kind of evil spirit,
struggling with one. It is prevented by placing a sharp knife under the
pillow, and stuffing the keyhole with cotton.
_Windham, Me._
828. Sores can be cured by those who possess magical powers going through
certain incantations, which are to be followed by applications of oatmeal
and vinegar.
_Newfoundland._
829. For a sty on the eye, take a small piece of paper, rub it on the
sty, go across the road three times, and say each time,--
Sty, sty, go off my eye,
Go on the first one that passes by.
This is a sure cure in two or three days.
_Talladega, Ala._
830. To cure a sty repeat at a cross-roads,--
Sty, sty, leave my eye,
And take the next one that passes by.
_Massachusetts, Indiana, and California._
831. Toothache may be cured by conjurers, who apply the finger to the
aching tooth, while muttering a charm, or tie a number of knots in a
fishing line.
_Newfoundland._
832. Toothache may be cured by a written charm, sealed up and worn around
the neck of the afflicted person. The following is a copy of the charm:--
I've seen it written a feller was sitten
On a marvel stone, and our Lord came by,
And He said to him, "What's the matter with thee, my man?"
And he said, "Got the toothache, Marster,"
And he said, "Follow me and thee shall have no more toothache."
_Newfoundland._
833. For toothache take an eyelash, an eyebrow, trimmings of the
finger-nails, and toe-nails of the patient, bore a hole in a beech-tree,
and put them in. The sufferer must not see the tree, and it must not be
cut down or burned.
_Cape Breton._
834. Treat biliousness by boring three holes in a tree and walking three
times around it, saying, "Go away, bilious."
_Eastern Shore of Maryland._
835. The most powerful charm is a piece of printed paper called "the
letter of Jesus Christ." This, in addition to the well-known letter of
Lentulus to the Senate, contains many absurd superstitions, such as the
promise of safe delivery in child-bed, and freedom from bodily hurt to
those who may possess a copy of it.
_Newfoundland._
WATER.
836. Rub the hands with the first snow that falls and you'll not have
sore hands all winter.
_Winn, Me._
837. On Ash Wednesday before sunrise dip a pail of water in a running
brook (up stream), bottle it, and keep as a cure for anything.
_Maine._
838. Catch the last snow of the season (_e.g._, in April), melt and put
into a bottle. It will cure sore eyes.
_Chestertown, Md._
839. Water made from snow that falls in the month of May will cure sore
eyes.
_Prince Edward Island._
840. Rain-water caught the first of June will cure freckles. It will not
putrefy.
_Massachusetts._
841. An Indian doctor used for inflammation of the eyes rain-water caught
on the third, fourth, and fifth of June. It is said that this will not
putrefy.
_New Hampshire._
842. The first water that falls in June is supposed to cure all skin
diseases; and I am informed "it is dretful good for the insides, too."
_Westford, Mass._
843. Water in which a blacksmith has cooled his iron is a cure for
freckles.
_Malden, Mass._
MISCELLANEOUS.
844. It is believed that "piercing the ear" will cure weak eyes or
strengthen the eyes. It is often done to children for this purpose.
_Northern Ohio._
845. To cure hiccoughs repeat in one breath the words,--
There was an old woman who lived all alone,
And she was made of skin and bone.
One day to church she went to pray,
And on the ground a man there lay,
And from his head unto his feet
The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.
_Boston, Mass._
846. A variant,--
There was an old woman who lived all alone,
And she was made of skin and bone.
One day to church she went to pray,
And on the ground there lay a man.
And from his head unto his feet
The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.
The woman to the parson said:
"Shall I be so when I am dead?"
The parson he said "yes."
_Portland, Me., Brookline and Deerfield, Mass._
847. For hiccoughs the nurse used to say in a droning, deep, ghostly
tone,--
There was an old man an' an old woman,
And they lived in a bottle and eat BONES.
_Brookline, Mass._
848. Other somewhat general remedies for hiccoughs are to munch a
spoonful of sugar, to scare the one troubled with hiccoughs by some
startling announcement or accusation, as, "See, you've torn your dress!"
or, "How did you break my vase?" etc. Another custom is to steadily point
a finger at the hiccougher, or to make him hold up his arm and shake it.
849. To cure hiccoughs, slowly take nine sips of water.
_Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio._
850. Another cure for hiccoughs is as follows: Put the thumb up against
the lower lip, with the fingers under the chin, and say, "hiccup, hiccup,
over my thumb," nine times.
_Northern Ohio._
851. A cure for hiccoughs: Try for a long time to make the edges of the
thumb-nails meet at the end.
_Chestertown, Md._
852. Think of the one you love best, to cure hiccoughs.
_Prince Edward Island._
853. For chapped lips kiss the middle rail of a five-railed fence.
_Bernardston, Mass._
854. To relieve coughing or strangling, put a pair of scissors down
inside the back of your dress.
_Prince Edward Island._
855. Chew brown paper as a cure for nose-bleed.
_Eastern Massachusetts._
856. For nose-bleed, put a key down the back.
857. For nose-bleed, hold up the right arm.
858. For nose-bleed, place a wad of paper between the upper lip and the
gum.
859. You can keep from crying as you peel onions if you keep the mouth
closed.
_Northern Ohio._
860. Hold, by the points, two needles between your teeth, as you peel
onions, and you will not cry.
_Prince Edward Island._
861. Hold a needle between your teeth with the point out, while peeling
onions, and you'll not cry, _i.e._, will not feel the smart.
862. You will not cry in peeling onions if you hold a bit of bread in the
mouth.
_Prince Edward Island, Cambridge, Mass. (Irish)._
Or, put the bread on the point of the knife.
_Maine._
863. You will not cry in peeling onions if you let the faucet be open so
the water will run.
_Cambridge, Mass._
864. To bring up the palate when it drops and tickles the root of the
tongue, take a wisp of hair on the crown of the head and tie it up very
tight.
_Chestertown, Md._
865. Rubbing a sty with a gold ring will cure it.
_Prince Edward Island._
866. Cure a sty by rubbing it with a wedding ring.
_General._
867. A sty in the eye is cured by rubbing a gold ring on the eye three
mornings with a sign of the cross.
_Labrador._
868. A pebble in the mouth will ease thirst.
_Brookline, Mass._
869. A sore throat may be cured by binding about the neck on going to bed
one of the stockings which the patient has been wearing (no other one
will do).
_Somewhat general in the United States._
870. To cure the sore throat, take three handfuls of ashes with your left
hand, put into your left stocking, and bind it around your throat.
_Mattawamkeag, Me._
871. To burn the "little nerve" in the ear will cure the toothache forever.
_Northern Ohio._