intrinsic amuletic virtues (against the evil eye), common in Italy, [1] I did not find amongst the persons I questioned.
Bones and Teeth. — Fig. 27 (Pl. I.). Two bones (the "ear-bones") from the heads of fishes, mounted in silver as pendants; Segovia. Said to be worn by children, against accidents and the effects of the evil eye. These bones were obtained together, and are the only mounted examples of the kind I niet with in Spain.[2] On the three occasions that I have obtained such bones in Spain (Segovia, Granada, Madrid), and on the one occasion in Italy (Rome), they have been in pairs. An explanation of this fact may lie in their use as amulets against ear-troubles, as noted by Dr. Bellucci of occasional occurrence in Umbria, or in their degradation from specially curative amulets of this kind to simple amulets of a generally protective nature, or in their origin in pairs.[3]
Fig. 28 (Pl. I.). Jawbone of a small carnivore, mounted in silver as a pendant; Seville. History and intention not known to vendor.
Fig. 29 (Pl. I.). A piece of bone, or a diseased tooth mounted inverted (i.e., root outward, an unusual mounting for a tooth), in a silver socket ; Madrid. Specific amuletic intention not known to vendor.
Bells. — Fig. 30 (Pl. II.). A small bell, of gilt silver, to be worn suspended from a child's waist ; Madrid. Bells of similar character are to be found in numbers such as to indicate that they must have been in fairly common use in Spain. On a portrait of a young child by Velasquez (No. 1196 in the Prado Gallery) at
- ↑ Cf. Bellucci, op. cit., Tab. xi., 16 ("a heart-shaped plate of mother-of-pearl, set in metal, with a ring for suspension").
- ↑ A pendant, formed of a larger bone of this kind similarly mounted in silver, is in the National Museum at Copenhagen, amongst objects of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; its provenance is not stated.
- ↑ "The head of a perch contains a flat white stone, according to many, known as the lucky stone. This stone is a charm to bring good luck if carried on the person. ... If two bones are carried, it is supposed to make one's luck doubly sure. They should be both from the same fish." From "Fish and Charms," a short article in P.T.O., London, Dec. 21, 1907. Newfoundland cod-fishers "carry for luck a bone found in the head of the cod. This magic bone ... is supposed to preserve its owner's life." From Pearson's Weekly, April 30, 1908.
