Bygone Beliefs Part 4

(1) _Ibid_., pp. 7-11.

Sir KENELM proceeds, in this discourse, to relate that he obtained the secret of the Powder from a Carmelite who had learnt it in the East.

Sir KENELM says that he told it only to King JAMES and his celebrated physician, Sir THEODORE MAYERNE (1573-1655). The latter disclosed it to the Duke of MAYERNE, whose surgeon sold the secret to various persons, until ultimately, as Sir KENELM remarks, it became known to every country barber. However, DIGBY'S real connection with the Powder has been questioned. In an Appendix to Dr NATHANAEL HIGHMORE'S (1613-1685) _The History of Generation_, published in 1651, ent.i.tled _A Discourse of the Cure of Wounds by Sympathy_, the Powder is referred to as Sir GILBERT TALBOT'S Powder; nor does it appear to have been DIGBY who brought the claims of the Sympathetic Powder before the notice of the then recently-formed Royal Society, although he was a by no means inactive member of the Society. HIGHMORE, however, in the Appendix to the work referred to above, does refer to DIGBY'S reputed cure of HOWELL'S wounds already mentioned; and after the publication of DIGBY'S _Discourse_ the Powder became generally known as Sir KENELM DIGBY'S Sympathetic Powder. As such it is referred to in an advertis.e.m.e.nt appended to _Wit and Drollery_ (1661) by the bookseller, NATHANAEL BROOK.(1)

(1) This advertis.e.m.e.nt is as follows: "These are to give notice, that Sir _Kenelme Digbies_ Sympathetical Powder prepar'd by Promethean fire, curing all green wounds that come within the compa.s.s of a Remedy; and likewise the Tooth-ache infallibly in a very short time: Is to be had at Mr _Nathanael Brook's_ at the Angel in _Cornhil_."

The belief in cure by sympathy, however, is much older than DIGBY'S or TALBOT'S Sympathetic Powder. PARACELSUS described an ointment consisting essentially of the moss on the skull of a man who had died a violent death, combined with boar's and bear's fat, burnt worms, dried boar's brain, red sandal-wood and mummy, which was used to cure (?) wounds in a similar manner, being applied to the weapon with which the hurt had been inflicted. With reference to this ointment, readers will probably recall the pa.s.sage in SCOTT'S _Lay of the Last Minstrel_ (canto 3, stanza 23), respecting the magical cure of WILLIAM of DELORAINE'S wound by "the Ladye of Branksome":--

"She drew the splinter from the wound And with a charm she stanch'd the blood; She bade the gash be cleans'd and bound: No longer by his couch she stood; But she had ta'en the broken lance, And washed it from the clotted gore And salved the splinter o'er and o'er.

William of Deloraine, in trance, Whene'er she turned it round and round, Twisted as if she gall'd his wound.

Then to her maidens she did say That he should be whole man and sound Within the course of a night and day.

Full long she toil'd; for she did rue Mishap to friend so stout and true."

FRANCIS BACON (1561-1626) writes of sympathetic cures as follows:--"It is constantly Received, and Avouched, that the _Anointing_ of the _Weapon_, that maketh the _Wound_, wil heale the _Wound_ it selfe. In this _Experiment_, upon the Relation of _Men of Credit_, (though my selfe, as yet, am not fully inclined to beleeve it,) you shal note the _Points_ following; First, the _Ointment_... is made of Divers _ingredients_; whereof the Strangest and Hardest to come by, are the Mosse upon the _Skull_ of a _dead Man, Vnburied_; And the _Fats_ of a _Boare_, and a _Beare_, killed in the _Act of Generation_. These Two last I could easily suspect to be prescribed as a Starting Hole; That if the _Experiment_ proved not, it mought be pretended, that the _Beasts_ were not killed in due Time; For as for the _Mosse_, it is certain there is great Quant.i.ty of it in _Ireland_, upon _Slain Bodies_, laid on _Heaps, Vnburied_. The other _Ingredients_ are, the _Bloud-Stone_ in _Powder_, and some other _Things_, which seeme to have a _Vertue_ to _Stanch Bloud_; As also the _Mosse_ hath.... Secondly, the same _kind_ of _Ointment_, applied to the Hurt it selfe, worketh not the _Effect_; but onely applied to the _Weapon_..... Fourthly, it may be applied to the _Weapon_, though the Party Hurt be at a great Distance. Fifthly, it seemeth the _Imagination_ of the Party, to be _Cured_, is not needfull to Concurre; For it may be done without the knowledge of the _Party Wounded_; And thus much hath been tried, that the _Ointment_ (for _Experiments_ sake,) hath been wiped off the _Weapon_, without the knowledge of the _Party Hurt_, and presently the _Party Hurt_, hath been in great _Rage of Paine_, till the _Weapon_ was _Reannointed_. Sixthly, it is affirmed, that if you cannot get the _Weapon_, yet if you put an _Instrument_ of _Iron_, or _Wood_, resembling the _Weapon_, into the _Wound_, whereby it bleedeth, the _Annointing_ of that _Instrument_ will serve, and work the _Effect_. This I doubt should be a Device, to keep this strange _Forme of Cure_, in Request, and Use; Because many times you cannot come by the _Weapon_ it selve. Seventhly, the _Wound_ be at first _Washed clean_ with _White Wine_ or the _Parties_ own _Water_; And then bound up close in _Fine Linen_ and no more _Dressing_ renewed, till it be _whole_."(1)

(1) FRANCIS BACON: _Sylva Sylvarum: or, A Natural History... Published after the Authors death... The sixt Edition_ u.. (1651), p. 217.

Owing to the demand for making this ointment, quite a considerable trade was done in skulls from Ireland upon which moss had grown owing to their exposure to the atmosphere, high prices being obtained for fine specimens.

The idea underlying the belief in the efficacy of sympathetic remedies, namely, that by acting on part of a thing or on a symbol of it, one thereby acts magically on the whole or the thing symbolised, is the root-idea of all magic, and is of extreme antiquity. DIGBY and others, however, tried to give a natural explanation to the supposed efficacy of the Powder. They argued that particles of the blood would ascend from the b.l.o.o.d.y cloth or weapon, only coming to rest when they had reached their natural home in the wound from which they had originally issued.

These particles would carry with them the more volatile part of the vitriol, which would effect a cure more readily than when combined with the grosser part of the vitriol. In the days when there was hardly any knowledge of chemistry and physics, this theory no doubt bore every semblance of truth. In pa.s.sing, however, it is interesting to note that DIGBY'S _Discourse_ called forth a reply from J. F. HELVETIUS (or SCHWETTZER, 1625-1709), physician to the Prince of Orange, who afterwards became celebrated as an alchemist who had achieved the magnum opus.(1)

(1) See my _Alchemy: Ancient and Modern_ (1911), SESE 63-67.

Writing of the Sympathetic Powder, Professor DE MORGAN wittily argues that it must have been quite efficacious. He says: "The directions were to keep the wound clean and cool, and to take care of diet, rubbing the salve on the knife or sword. If we remember the dreadful notions upon drugs which prevailed, both as to quant.i.ty and quality, we shall readily see that any way of NOT dressing the wound would have been useful. If the physicians had taken the hint, had been careful of diet, _etc_., and had poured the little barrels of medicine down the throat of a practicable doll, THEY would have had their magical cures as well as the surgeons."(2) As Dr PETTIGREW has pointed out,(3) Nature exhibits very remarkable powers in effecting the healing of wounds by adhesion, when her processes are not impeded. In fact, many cases have been recorded in which noses, ears, and fingers severed from the body have been rejoined thereto, merely by washing the parts, placing them in close continuity, and allowing the natural powers of the body to effect the healing.

Moreover, in spite of BACON'S remarks on this point, the effect of the imagination of the patient, who was usually not ignorant that a sympathetic cure was to be attempted, must be taken into account; for, without going to the excesses of "Christian Science" in this respect, the fact must be recognised that the state of the mind exercises a powerful effect on the natural forces of the body, and a firm faith is undoubtedly helpful in effecting the cure of any sort of ill.

(2) Professor AUGUSTUS DE MORGAN: _A Budget of Paradoxes_ (1872), p 66.

(3) THOMAS JOSEPH PETTIGREW, F.R.S.: _On Superst.i.tions connected with the History and Practice of Medicine and Surgery_ (1844), pp. 164-167.

VI. THE BELIEF IN TALISMANS

THE word "talisman" is derived from the Arabic "tilsam," "a magical image," through the plural form "tilsamen." This Arabic word is itself probably derived from the Greek telesma in its late meaning of "a religious mystery" or "consecrated object". The term is often employed to designate amulets in general, but, correctly speaking, it has a more restricted and special significance. A talisman may be defined briefly as an astrological or other symbol expressive of the influence and power of one of the planets, engraved on a sympathetic stone or metal (or inscribed on specially prepared parchment) under the auspices of this planet.

Before proceeding to an account of the preparation of talismans proper, it will not be out of place to notice some of the more interesting and curious of other amulets. All sorts of substances have been employed as charms, sometimes of a very unpleasant nature, such as dried toads.

Generally, however, amulets consist of stones, herbs, or pa.s.sages from Sacred Writings written on paper. This latter cla.s.s are sometimes called "characts," as an example of which may be mentioned the Jewish phylacteries.

Every precious stone was supposed to exercise its own peculiar virtue; for instance, amber was regarded as a good remedy for throat troubles, and agate was thought to preserve from snake-bites. ELIHU RICH(1) gives a very full list of stones and their supposed virtues. Each sign of the zodiac was supposed to have its own particular stone(2) (as shown in the annexed table), and hence the superst.i.tious though not inartistic custom of wearing one's birth-

Month (com- Astrological mencing 21st Sign of the Zodiac. of preceding Symbol. month). Stone.

Aries, the Ram . {} April Sardonyx.

Taurus the Bull . {} May Cornelian.

Gemini the Twins . {} June Topaz.

Cancer, the Crab . {} July Chalcedony.

Leo, the Lion . . {} August Jasper.

Virgo, the Virgin . {} September Emerald.

Libra, the Balance . {} October Beryl.

Scorpio, the Scorpion {} November Amethyst.

Sagittarius, the Archer {} December Hyacinth (=Sapphire).

Capricorn, the Goat . {} January Chrysoprase.

Aquarius, the Water- {} February Crystal.

bearer Pisces, the Fishes . {} March Sapphire.(=Lapis lazuli).

stone for "luck". The belief in the occult powers of certain stones is by no means non-existent at the present day; for even in these enlightened times there are not wanting those who fear the beautiful opal, and put their faith in the virtues of New Zealand green-stone.

(1) ELIHU RICH: _The Occult Sciences (Encyclopaedia Metropolitana_, 1855), pp. 348 _et seq_.

(2) With regard to these stones, however, there is much confusion and difference of opinion. The arrangement adopted in the table here given is that of CORNELIUS AGRIPPA (_Occult Philosophy_, bk. ii.). A comparatively recent work, esteemed by modern occultists, namely, _The Light of Egypt, or the Science of the Soul and the Stars_ (1889), gives the following scheme:--

{}=Amethyst. {}=Emerald. {}=Diamond. {}=Onyx (Chalcedony).

{}=Agate. {}=Ruby. {}=Topaz. {}=Sapphire (skyblue).

{}=Beryl. {}=Jasper. {}=Carbuncle. {}=Chrysolite.

Common superst.i.tious opinion regarding birth-stones, as reflected, for example, in the "lucky birth charms" exhibited in the windows of the jewellers' shops, considerably diverges in this matter from the views of both these authorities. The usual scheme is as follows:--

Jan.=Garnet. May =Emerald. Sept.=Sapphire, Feb.=Amethyst. June=Agate. Oct. =Opal.

Mar.=Bloodstone. July=Ruby. Nov. =Topaz.

Apr.=Diamond. Aug.=Sardonyx. Dec. =Turquoise.

The bloodstone is frequently a.s.signed either to Aries or Scorpio, owing to its symbolical connection with Mars; and the opal to Cancer, which in astrology is the constellation of the moon.

Confusion is rendered still worse by the fact that the ancients whilst in some cases using the same names as ourselves, applied them to different stones; thus their "hyacinth" is our "sapphire," whilst their "sapphire" is our "lapis lazuli".

Certain herbs, culled at favourable conjunctions of the planets and worn as amulets, were held to be very efficacious against various diseases.

Precious stones and metals were also taken internally for the same purpose--"remedies" which in certain cases must have proved exceedingly harmful. One theory put forward for the supposed medical value of amulets was the Doctrine of Effluvia. This theory supposes the amulets to give off vapours or effluvia which penetrate into the body and effect a cure. It is, of course, true that certain herbs, _etc_., might, under the heat of the body, give off such effluvia, but the theory on the whole is manifestly absurd. The Doctrine of Signatures, which we have already encountered in our excursions,(1) may also be mentioned in this connection as a complementary and equally untenable hypothesis.

According to ELIHU RICH,(2) the following were the commonest Egyptian amulets:--