s
in their governance of the parts of man's body, and that 'for every
limbe they have a saint.' Thus St. Otilia keepes the head instead of
Aries; St. Blasius is appointed to governe the necke instead of
Taurus; St. Lawrence keepes the backe and shoulders instead of Gemini,
Cancer, and Leo; St. Erasmus rules the belly with the entrayles, in
the place of Libra and Scorpius; in the stead of Sagittarius,
Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces, the holy church of Rome hath
elected St. Burgarde, St. Rochus, St. Quirinus, St. John, and many
others, which governe the thighes, feet, shinnes, and knees."

But the influence of the saints is distributed more minutely, as
_e. g._, "_Right Hand_: the top joint of the thumb is dedicated to God,
the second joint to the Virgin; the top joint of the fore-finger to
St. Barnabas, the second joint to St. John, and the third to St. Paul;
the top joint of the second finger to Simon Cleophas, the second joint
to Tathideo, the third to Joseph; the top joint of the third finger to
Zaccheus, the second to Stephen, the third to the evangelist Luke; the
top joint of the little finger to Leatus, the second to Mark, the
third to Nicodemus." Thus the body was cared for.

Pettigrew makes the following enumeration which shows the division of
labor among the saints in the Middle Ages. In this, not the different
portions of the body but the various diseases and infirmities are
distributed.

"The following list, though doubtless very imperfect, will yet serve to
show how general was the appropriation of particular diseases to the
Roman Catholic saints:

St. Agatha, against sore breasts.
St. Agnan and St. Tignan, against scald head.
St. Anthony, against inflammations.
St. Apollonia, against toothache.
St. Avertin, against lunacy.
St. Benedict, against the stone, and also for poisons.
St. Blaise, against the quinsey, bones sticking in the throat, etc.
St. Christopher and St. Mark, against sudden death.
St. Clara, against sore eyes.
St. Erasmus, against the colic.
St. Eutrope, against dropsy.
St. Genow and St. Maur, against the gout.
St. Germanus, against diseases of children.
St. Giles and St. Hyacinth, against sterility.
St. Herbert, against hydrophobia.
St. Job and St. Fiage, against syphilis.
St. John, against epilepsy and poison.
St. Lawrence, against diseases of the back and shoulders.
St. Liberius, against the stone and fistula.
St. Maine, against the scab