the saints innumerable examples are recorded: and the command, “In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover," applies to all true followers of Christ. Those, however, who are wanting in the power of the spirit and in faith cannot perform these acts like the saints, on whom they cast doubt because they cannot imitate them.

The saints did everything through faith in Christ, and therefore were able to perform such miracles. I shall make mention of a few of the most remarkable accounts. St. Patrick, the Irish apostle, healed the blind by laying on his hands. St. Bernard is said to have restored eleven blind persons to sight, and eighteen lame persons to the use of their limbs, in one day at Constance. At Cologne he healed twelve lame, caused three dumb persons to speak, ten who were deaf to hear; and, when he himself was ill, St. Lawrence and St. Benedict appeared to him, and cured him by touching the affected part. Even his plates and dishes are said to have cured sickness after his death! The miracles of SS. Margaret, Katherine, Elizabeth, Hildegarde, and especially the miraculous cures of the two holy martyrs Cosmas and Damianus, belong to this class. Among others, they freed. the Emperor Justinian from an incurable sickness. St. Odilia embraced a leper, who was shunned by all men, in her arms, warmed him, and restored him to health.

Remarkable above all others are those cases where persons who were at the point of death have recovered by holy baptism or extreme unction. The Emperor Constantine is one of the most singular examples. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, had the power of assuaging colic and affections of the spleen by laying the patients on their backs and passing his great toe over them. (Plutarch. Vita Pyrrhi: "Digitum maximum pedis divinitatem habuisse adeo quod igne non potuit comburi.") The Emperor Vespasian cured nervous affections, lameness, and blindness, solely by the laying on of his hands (Suelin, Vita Vespas.) According to Coelius Spartianus, Hadrian cured those afflicted with dropsy by touching them with the points of his fingers, and recovered himself from a violent fever by similar treatment. King Olaf healed Egill

on the spot by merely laying his hands upon him and singing proverbs (Edda, p. 216). The kings of England and France cured diseases of the throat by touch. It is said that the pious Edward the Confessor, and in France that Philip the First, were the first who possessed this power. The formula used on such occasions was, "Le roi te touche, allez et guerissez ;" so that the word was connected with the act of touching. In England the disease was therefore called King's Evil. In France this power was retained till within a short time since; and it is said that at the coronation the exact manner of touching, and the formula-"Le roi te touche, dieu te guérisse"-were imparted to him. In the reign of Louis XIII. the Duke d'Epernon is said to have exclaimed, when Richelieu was made generalissimo against the Spaniards, "What! has the king nothing left but the power of healing wens ?"

Among German princes this curative power was ascribed to the Counts of Hapsburg, and also that they were able to cure stammering by a kiss. Pliny says, There are men whose whole bodies possess medicinal properties, as the Marsi, the Psyli, and others, who cure the bite of serpents merely by the touch." This he remarks especially of the Island of Cyprus; and later travellers confirm these cures by the touch. In later times, the Salmadores and Ensalmadores of Spain became very celebrated, who healed almost all diseases by prayer, laying on of the hands, and by the breath. In Ireland, Valentine Greaterake cured at first king's evil by his hands; later, fever, wounds, tumours, gout, and at length all diseases. In the seventeenth century, the gardener Levret and the notorious Streeper performed cures in London by stroking with the hand. In a similar manner cures were performed by Michael Medina, and the Child of Salamanca; also Marcellus Empiricus (Sprengel, Gesch. der Med. Part 2, p. 179.) Richter, an innkeeper at Royen, in Silicia, cured, in the years 1817-18, many thousands of sick persons in the open fields, by touching them with his hands. Under the Popes, laying on of the hands was called Chirothesy. Diepenbroek wrote two treatises on it; and, according to Lampe, four-and-thirty Chirothetists were declared to be holy. (Dissert. Cine de xepodería et Xεiporovía.-Lampe, De honoribus et privilegiis medi

corum dissert.-Mémoire pour servir à l'histoire de la jonglerie, Londres et Paris, 1784.-Hilocher, De cura strumarum contractu regio facta, Jenæ, 1730.-Metz, De tactu regis, etc. Witeb. 1675.-Delrio, disquisit. magic. Mogunt. 1606, t. i. 66.-De la philosophie corpusculaire, ou les connaissances et les procèdes magnétiques chez les divers peuples, par M. de L, Paris, 1735, p. 112.-Guil. Tooker, Charisma, seu donum sanitatis, etc. Lond. 1597.— William Clowes, Right fruitful and approved treatise of the struma, Lond. 1602.-A. Laurentius, De mirabili strumas sanandi vi solis Galliæ regibus concessa, Paris, 1609.— G. Traité de la guérison des écrouelles par l'attouchement des septenaires.-Dan. G. Morhof, Princeps medicus, Rost. 1665.-C. G. Rusch, Handbuch der Erfind. t. iii. Eisenach, 1792, p. 15.-A brief account of Mr. Valentine Greaterakes, and divers of the strange cures by him performed, Lond. 1666.-Pechlin, Nic.,, Observat. phys. med. Hamb. 1691.-Schelhamer, Dissert. de odontalgia tactu sedanda, Jenæ, 1701.—Adolphi dissert. de morborum per manum attrectationem curatione, Lips. 1730.-Anti-magnetismus, oder Ursprung, Fortgang Verfall und Erneuerung des thierischen Magnetismus, aus dem Franz, Gera, 1788.)

TALISMANS.

TALISMANS,-from the Greek word réλeoua, from which the Arabs derive tilsem-(imago magica)-—are substances, particularly metals, minerals, roots, and herbs, which were worn on the body, either as preventives against, or cures for, diseases. Similar, but not exactly the same, are Amulets, which were supposed to possess the power of warding off misfortune or the effect of poison, and were inscribed with astrological signs and numbers. The most celebrated inscription was that of Abraxas, which comprehended the idea of heaven, and from which, according to Sprengel, the formula of "Abracadabra" arose, used by Serenus Sammonicus especially against tertian fever (S. Sammon. De re medica, 1581, 4 c.) Other formulas are given by Alex. Tralles. In later times, these talismans and amulets degenerated into the wearing of bloodstones, loadstones, necklaces

of amber, images of saints, consecrated objects, and among the Catholics is found in the use of scapularies, with which, however, an idea of sanctity was associated.

Talismans were most frequently used by the orientals, who even at the present time make use of them. Some were quite simple and smooth, others were artificially prepared,—in which case, however, the position of the stars was especially regarded in searching and preparing them, and from this cause they were often called constellation circles. By degrees they came to be made in all kinds of shapes,as the sun, moon, and the planets. A mystical figure, representing the inexpressible name of God-which, according to the Jews, was preserved in the Temple at Jerusalem-is found on many engraved gems; and two triangles crossing each other are supposed to have been the diagram of the Gnostics, with which they performed all sorts of miraculous cures. People went so far as to believe it possible to be placed in communication with the world of spirits by the aid of talismans; that by their use the love and esteem of men was to be gained; and that by the mere wearing of such talismans others could be brought into any wished-for condition of mind. Orpheus, for instance, says, that it is possible to fix the attention of an audience, and to increase their pleasure, by the use of the loadstone. A particular power was ascribed to precious stones.

As at the present time it has been observed that magnetic somnambulists are influenced in a peculiar manner by certain metals, vegetable substances, and precious stones; so is it not improbable that in the early ages the belief in the virtues of talismans was induced by similar observations. As loadstones, iron, copper, silver, gold, and quicksilver, diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and smaragds, are known to produce certain effects upon magnetic somnambulists, so were the special virtues of each formerly clearly defined. The Buddhists ascribed a sacred magical power to the sapphire, and it was called the stone of stones (optimus, quem tellus medica gignit). That mirror-like surfaces produce somnambulic phenomena has been long known, but it is only in later times that investigations have shown the manifold influence of the prismatic colours, and that they have an

unequal power of warmth. The electric polarities of precious stones are probably more important than their mere brilliancy; and, according to Amoretti's investigations, all have either + or - E. The diamond, the garnet, the amethyst, are E; the smaragd, the sapphire, aquamarine, the chrysolite, and the chrysophrase, +E (Kieser's Archiv, Vol. iv. p. 62). It was no wonder, therefore, that similar appearances arose through their influence on man, and that this influence should be observed and recorded. The influence of their brilliancy on the nervous system and the imagination has a certain foundation, as was firmly maintained among oriental nations, and during the middle ages (ad evocandas imagines.) So, for instance, according to the teachings of the Buddhists, the sapphire produces equanimity and peace of mind, as well as affording protection against envy and treachery. "It will open barred doors and dwellings; it produces prayer and reconciliation with the Godhead; and brings with it more peace than any other gem of necromancy; but he who would wear it must lead a pure and holy life.". (Marbod. Liber lapid. ed. Beckmann.)

The Jewish high priests wore jewels on their breasts, and, according to the traditions, they served as a means of revealing to them the will of God. What Orpheus says of the power of stones is most remarkable, and particularly in regard to the loadstone :— "With this stone you can hear the voices of the gods, and learn many wonderful things. If you suffer from sickness, take it into your hands and shake it well. Then take courage, and ask it concerning the future. Everything will be unfolded truthfully before you; and if you hold it nearer to your eyes it will inspire you with a divine spirit (tum aude de vaticiniis eum interrogare, omnia enim exponet tibi vera, eumque postea propius ad oculos admovens, quando laveris, intuere: divinatus enim expirantem intelliges). It is a glorious remedy against wounds. It is a remedy for the bite of snakes, weak eyes, and headache; and makes the deaf to hear. Of crystals he says,

"Crystallus-frigide tactu est,

Et renibus appositus, dolorem leniet."