CHARMS THAT CURE

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 30, Issue 17, 1 March 1918, Page 2

CHARMS THAT CURE

One would almost think that the superstitious age had passed, but the many races of mankind that we now harbour are probably partly responsible for a revival in health charms and amulets. The Belgians introduced a very queer remedy for the relief of rheumatism to British chemists. Wear a little strip of catskin beneath your coat, and, says the Belgian, you will become immune from gout or rheumatic pains. A well-known old English remedy for rheumatism is to carry a raw potato in your pocket, but this latter belief really has something to be said in its favour, for the potato contains properties which are distinctly beneficial, and these benefits can be absorbed through the skin.

Even the upper classes do not escape the fascination of health charms. At several high-class chemists’ shops in the West-end of London one may buy sealed bottles of mercury in dainty wash-leather cases as “cures for rheumatism.” Blue heads, not for personal adornment, but to ward off bronchitis, are seen on many a pretty girl.

Of all health superstitions, however, the acorn theory is the most amusing and incredulous. An acorn belt, so a customer was assured one day, would protect him from attacks of indigestion and the like ! It was to be worn next the skin, round the waist.