ich he had given him; whereupon the man explained that he
had "taken" it, as he had understood the directions, by swallowing the
paper.

In Egypt, at the present time, faith in the power of written charms is
generally prevalent, and forms one of the most characteristic beliefs of
the people of that country.

E. W. Lane, in "Modern Egyptians," says that the composition of these
characts is founded chiefly upon magic, and devolves usually upon the
village schoolmasters. They consist of verses from the Koran, and "names
of God, together with those of angels, genii, prophets, or eminent
saints, intermixed with combinations of minerals, and with diagrams, all
of which are supposed to have great secret virtues."

One of the most popular Egyptian methods of charming away disease is
similar to a practice already mentioned as in use among less civilized
peoples.

The sacred texts are inscribed on the inner surfaces of earthenware
bowls, in which water is stirred until the writing is washed off. Then
the infusion is drunk by the patient, and without doubt the subsequent
benefit is exactly commensurate with the strength of his faith in the
remedy.

FOOTNOTES:

[30:1] Joseph Addison, _On the pleasures of the Imagination_.

[31:1] _The Jewish Encyclopaedia._

[31:2] G. Maspero, _The Dawn of Civilization_, p. 214.

[32:1] Larousse, _Dictionnaire_, art. "Charme."

[32:2] Matthew, viii, 8, 13, 16.

[33:1] _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, art. "Medicine," T. K. Cheyne and J.
Sutherland Black.

[33:2] Elworthy, _The Evil Eye_, p. 400.

[33:3] Elias Owen, _Welsh Folklore_, p. 245.

[34:1] Robley Dunglison, _Medical Dictionary_, p. 202.

[35:1] _Notes and Queries_, 4th series, vol. vii, p. 443. For other
versions of this charm see W. G. Black, _Folk-Medicine_, p. 82;
Pettigrew, _Medical Superstitions_, p. 57.

[35:2] Book i, ch. 13.

[36:1] _Notes and Queries_, 5th Series, vol. i, pp. 325, 375.

[37:1] _Boston Transcript_, May 2, 1900.

[37:2] London, 1652, p. 231.

[37:3] Monier-Williams, _Religious Thought in India_, p. 197.

[38:1] C. W. King, _Early Christian Numismatics_, p. 179.

[38:2] _Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_, Washington, D. C.,
1887-8, p. 453.

[38:3] R. M. Lawrence, _The Magic of the Horse-Shoe_, p. 300.

[39:1] _Religions of Primitive Peoples_, p. 93.

[39:2] _A Discourse concerning the Nature and Substance of Devils and
Spirits_, p. 70; 1665.

[39:3] M'Clintock and Strong, _Cyclopa