SUPERSTITIONS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3206, 16 May 1889, Page 2

SUPERSTITIONS.

"|S6 many superstitions arestill left cb'ns," even in thenmeteenth'.oentpij, that" there was good reason why^Dr'iauclar -Bruntoa. should attempt to l'BiTß;:'s6md' , '(oommbnv sense explanations of them, as he does.'in the :ourrontj number of the'"Universal Keyiew. To' show how ignoranoe, may lead us into both oredulity and soptioisni,, he tells one story against, himself.: ; . Some years sincere vvas informed by an American ot the Eastern" States: that the gas could be lit. there in the'winter, by merely pointing- the-finger at it, Heat onoo put it down as a fib. But it turned out to be true, the facts being that tie cold air was dry enough to act as an insulator, and the act of walking about caused tha body to be so bharged with electricity' that the finger yielded a spark sufficient to ligb thegas. '•■; ' The old belief in the venomous, oharacter of the toad turns out to be correct, a strong' poison having been got from the animal's skin. It is true that through the thick "epidermis of the palm of the hand the toad produces no effect, but apply it to' the mucous membrane o! the mouth, and its poison will enter the system and affect 'the heart, ''

In his search for the reason of things, Dr Brunton next tells us why it is that mens coats have in the centre of the tails two little tuoks surmounted by. two little buttons that are apparently useless. The tuoks are the remnants ot the original coat tail, the present tail representing only the ancient flop, which used to bo turned back and held by the buttons abovoit, As changes have occurred in our clothing, so also "they have occurred in our beliefs. For instance, many people hold that' horse's flesh is unfit for human food. This belief is untrue, but tho old form of it was that horseflesh was unfit for Christian food." inasmuch as amongst the Scandinavians it was a form of meat sacrificed to the idols. A story is .told of one of the Norse kings who, after his conversion, begged lard to.be allowed to wave some of the steam from the broth (of the cooked horsoj into his nostrils, But the Christian missionary was stern, and even this was not allowed. And so horseflesh fell into oomplete disuse, ' The origin or the belief that a' person cannot die easily while any doors are allowed to remain looked in the house in in which he is lying probably centres in the fact that as long as he is kept warm and is protected from draughts of cold air, by keeping the door of his room closed, be will continue to breathe for a considerable time. Similarly a feather bed retains warmth and prolongs life, and this is why it has been supposed that no one could die readily in a feather bed containing the feathers of game. In consequence of this superstition, dying people have sometimes been pulled out of their beds and laid upon the floor in order to allow them to die comfortably, and it has been recorded that the result was perfectly satisfactory, ' Some curious confusions of coincidences, with consequences, ate also noteworthy. It is bolieved- in manv places that diseases may bo transferred from persons to animals. In Devonshire and Scotland, when a child has whooping cough, a hair is taken from its head, put between shoes of bread and butter, and given to a dog; and if in eating it tho dog coughs', as naturally ho will, the whooping cough will bo transferred to the animal, and tho child will go free, In Ireland a little hair is cut off the head of a 'patient suffering from scarlet fever, and put down the throat of an ass, who is then and there supposed to recoive.the illness. Beliefs in omens are tracked to their sources by Dr Brunton.

A man's stumbling on leaving homo in the morning is held to portend misfortune. The truth is that if ho durables it is probably because his nervous system isnot in good working order, nnd this is likoly tojmilitate against his success during the day. Believers in faith healing, clairvoyance, and spirit-rapping will do well to rendDr Brunton's paper,. -

Tragedy in Vienna,

A terrible domestic tragedy occurred recently in the Suburb of Birckeree, one of the poorest quarters in Vienna, A journeyman goldsmith named Enderle, aged 39, lived there with his wife and, six children, earning between 22s and 255. a week. His wife committed suicide four weeks ago by taking poison, and since that timo ho had either to neglect his work or his oliildren, the eldest of whom was eight years of age, tlio youngest but six months, He ended by losing his work, and the women who sometimes looked after his children left him on Sunday... The unfortunate man mixed on Monday morping . a large quautity of potassium which he had procured in his workshop, with coffee and gave it to the children to drink, drinking some also himself. Only one. of the childrendid not [taste it, ; and all the others died"wittiin'a few minutes. A woman, who found the door locked, alarmed the neighbors, and when the room was ontered Enderle was seen lying dead on the floor, and the two eldest Ejirls and the three boys, aged five, four, and three respectively, dead in bed. The baby was taken away by neighbors, and tlio six bodies were conveyed to the hospital.

Library. The annual meeting of the AlfredtonMangaone Library was held on the 7lhinstant, Present: Messrs Good, Trapp, Benton, Groves, Dunn, Dunderdale, Claridge and 1), Macquarie, Mr Dunn was appointed Chairman, The minutes of. the previous annual meeting were read and confirmed, The Treasurer (Mr Benton) reported receipts Lo 17s 4d, expenditure U 17s 9d, leaving a balance of 19s 7d in band ai:d 5a in arrears. It was resolved that a box of books having been received from Mr Bremne'r, the Secretary should write conveying tho members thanks for same. Eeaolved that the bookß not entered in Library, bo ticketed and given out samo.as those already entered. The following office bearers were elected for the year. President. W. M. Kobbell ; Vice President: H. Dunn, (sub-libarian); Treasurer: H, Benton; Secretary and librarian: F. E Dunderdale;member of Committee; W. Cross, It was resolved that the books be allowed to be taken out on Sundays, if some member of the Committee or members be present willing to attend to same ; time to be left to Committee to fix. Mr Macquarie stated he was willing to attend sometimes, Any perion joining after November to 'pay but half subscription, year'B subscription to be 5s per member,