To cure pleurisy, pass the child beneath a table to an assistant. 2

It is necessary to state, in this connection, that pleurisy is believed to be caused by the attachment of the liver to the ribs; the cure being to break this adhesion by stretching the body. The disease is commonly known as liver grown--ân'gewâk'sa, lit., grown fast.

A fretful baby is believed to long for something for which the mother herself had an ungratified desire previous to the infant's birth, The only remedy is to ascertain what this is, and to give the infant a taste of it.

Incontinence of urine is cured by whipping the afflicted one with a hud'l lum'ba. This is a cloth used to remove ashes from the oven previous to depositing the bread for baking.

When the patient reaches the age of adolescence the alleged relief is obtained by urinating into a newly made grave, the corpse must be of the opposite sex to that of the experimenter. 3

Blisters on the tongue (Stomatitis) are caused by telling fibs. When they show no disposition to leave, the following process is adopted: three small sticks are cut from a tree, each about the length of a finger and as thick as a pencil. These are inserted into the mouth and buried in a dunghill; the next day the operation is repeated, as well as on the third day, after which the three sets of sticks are allowed to remain in the manure, and as they decay the complaint will disappear.

The following procedure for the cure of bronchitis is still practised in Berks County. Make a gimlet hole in the door frame at the exact height of the top of the patient's head, into which insert a small tuft of his hair and close the hole with a peg of wood, then cut off the projecting portion of the peg. As the patient grows in height beyond the peg, so will the disease be outgrown.

To cure whooping-cough, administer milk stolen from a neighbor's cow. [29]

A common remedy for croup is to administer a mixture of goose-grease and molasses, to induce emesis.

One less frequently adopted for the same complaint is to make a poultice of grated poke-root and vinegar and apply to the feet.

In Lehigh County the emetic for this purpose is prepared by boiling three (or five) onions until soft, and mixing the juice therefrom with honey.

In Fayette County an emetic for croup is made by mixing urine and goose-grease and administering internally, and also rubbing some of the mixture over the breast and throat.

For diphtheria a poultice consisting of the fresh excrement of a hog is worn about the neck for one night (Fayette County).

A Lehigh County remedy for ordinary sore throat is made by boiling either three or five onions, pressing out the juice, and mixing it with strong sage tea; this is sweetened with brown sugar. Sometimes a small lump of butter is added while the decoction is still hot.

A common practice for the same complaint is to turn a stocking wrong side out and wear it tied around the throat at night.

For ordinary febrile complaints strawberry leaf tea is administered to produce diaphoresis. Elder-blossom tea is also given in fevers, and especially to hasten the eruption in measles and scarlatina.

For measles, both mare's milk and a tea made of sheep cherries (gen. et sp.?) are given (Mr. Brown, Fayette County).

To cure mumps, the swollen parts must be rubbed against such portion of a hog-trough as has been worn smooth by that animal.

A decoction of dog-wood bark is given as a purgative to adults as well as to children. The same remedy, if properly prepared, is also taken to produce emesis. The belief pertaining to these properties and the special preparation of the bark is as follows: When the remedy is to act as an emetic, the bark is scraped from the branches from below upward when the sap is rising in the spring. This is put into boiling water and a strong decoction made, which, if taken internally, will readily produce the desired effect. If, however, a purgative is wanted, the bark must be scraped downward, in autumn, when the sap is believed to run downward. The scrapings must be put into a vessel of cold water and boiled for a considerable period of time. If sufficient be taken of the decoction, purging results.

That the desired effect is generally attained by adults may appear singular, but it may readily be attributed to the will and conduct of the patient himself. The decoction, if taken as an emetic, is readily gotten rid of at the first indication of nausea, but when the purpose is to purge, the patient, with some effort on his part, retains the obnoxious mixture until it has passed beyond the control of the stomach into the intestines, when the desired result follows. [30]

Household remedies, usually resorted to for the ailments of adults, will be treated of later.

Several curious customs relating to death and burial are worthy of mention. A death was announced by tolling the church bell, the number of strokes corresponding to the age in years of the deceased. After a short interval the taps of the bell denoted the number of days that would elapse before the funeral.

Immediately upon the death of a member of any household, the women of the neighborhood congregated and prepared for the funeral dinner. This was done to feed the friends and relatives who came from a distance. Pastry, cakes, fowl, and hams in great quantity were prepared, and previous to the departure of the funeral a lunch was handed round, followed by hot coffee, and frequently the bottle of whiskey. If it was known to the lovers of ardent spirits that the latter was to be had, there was frequently an unusual number of attendants at the funeral, and some of the mourners consequently failed to accompany the remains of the departed, preferring to await the return to the house of the funeral cortege.

The regular dinner was then served, after which each one returned to his respective home With reference to the burial custom of the Moravians at Bethlehem, Mr. Rupp says: "The Corpse House, where, on the death of a member of the society, the corpse is deposited for three days, is worthy of a notice. When a death occurs, a part of the choir ascend the church cupola or steeple, where a requiem or funeral hymn is played for the departed, and the melancholy notes as they fall on the ear in a calm morning are peculiarly solemn and impressive. The body on the third day is removed from the corpse house, the mourners place themselves around it, and after several strains of solemn music, the procession forms a line of march to the grave, preceded by the band, still playing, which is continued some time after the coffin is deposited." 1

Coffins were made of walnut or stained wood. Hearses were rarely used, the coffin being placed upon the floor of a large wagon with chairs around it for the chief mourners, the children generally sitting upon the coffin itself.

The eyes of the corpse were closed by placing copper cents upon them, and a small piece of linen with embroidered edges, called a shwçs duch (sweat cloth), covered the entire face until the day of the funeral, when both the coppers and the cloth were deposited inside the coffin and buried with the body.

Upon the death of any inmate of a house the mirrors are turned round so as to face the wall, otherwise the first person to see his image in any one of them will be sure to die within a year. [31]

If any one wear crêpe when not in mourning, his or her death is sure to follow. 1

The chirping in the house of a cricket, or the clicking of a deathwatch, foretell the death of one of the inmates. When horses in pasture are seen running and playing, it is a sign that a funeral will soon be seen.

That a dog howling at night should be a presage of death is a superstition of almost world-wide belief, and is abundantly observed in classic literature. 2

A white Christmas makes a full graveyard. 3

When apple-trees bloom out of season it is an omen of death to some one connected with the household.

If any one suffering from corns takes a small piece of cotton, rubs it over the offenders and hides it, unobserved, with a body about to be buried, the corns will leave him.

If the hand of a corpse be rubbed over a goitre the afflicted may be certain of recovery.

Under-garments cut out on Friday are sure to be used for a corpse.

It is unlucky to undertake a journey on Friday.

A piece of work begun on Friday will not be finished by the cutter; death is sure to follow.

The custom of casting stones on the graves of suicides, those who had met with a violent death, or bodies buried in canny places or in unconsecrated ground, was extensively practised until a very recent period, if, indeed, it does not still survive. Any passer-by who neglected to throw a stone upon such a grave was in imminent danger of meeting with the spirit of the departed, and the consequences were believed to be most unfortunate.

Many of the more ignorant and superstitious classes firmly believe that nightmare, ghostly manifestations, and similar evidences of uncanny doings are often the direct doings of witches. Nightmare can sometimes be caught, 4 as is illustrated by the following instance. A hostler in the service of the writer's father frequently suffered from nightmare, and to secure the intruder he procured a small phial which he placed within easy reach of his bed. After two or [32] three nights the nightmare was caught and bottled, and destroyed by burning. This was stated to have been the spirit of a black cat, under control of a witch with whom the hostler had had a previous misunderstanding.

When one awakes in the morning feeling very tired, the witches have been riding him all night.

Witches are supposed to acquire influence over any one by becoming possessed of anything belonging to the intended victim, such as a hair, a piece of wearing apparel, or a pin. The influence acquired by the witch is greater if such an article be voluntarily or unconsciously handed to her by the person asked for it.

A witch can be disabled by securing a hair of her head, wrapping it in a piece of paper, and placing it against a tree as a target into which a silver bullet is to be fired from a gun.

The following instance was said to have occurred many years ago in northern Lehigh County. A vicious black sow was frequently encountered by people on the highway, but no one knew to whom the animal belonged. One day, as the sow became too aggressive in pursuit of its victim, the person thus annoyed picked up a heavy piece of wood and threw it, breaking one of the animal's legs.

It was learned subsequently that a witch living in that neighborhood had broken her leg at the same day and hour, and it was firmly believed that the witch and the animal--which was never encountered afterwards--were one and the same.