toothache from the
Babylonian cuneiform texts[21] in which we find perhaps the oldest
example of this belief.

"The Marshes created the Worm,
Came the Worm and wept before Shamash,
What wilt thou give me for my food?
What wilt thou give me to devour?
. . . . . . .
Let me drink among the teeth
And set me on the gums,
That I may devour the blood of the teeth
And of the gums destroy their strength.
Then shall I hold the bolt of the door.
. . . . . . .
So must thou say this, O Worm,
May Ea smite thee with the might of his fist."

Closely interwoven with these elements of Indo-Germanic origin we find
the ancient Eastern doctrine which ascribes disease to demoniac
possession. The exorcisms were originally heathen charms, and even in
the _Leech Book_ there are many interesting survivals of these,
although Christian rites have to a large extent been substituted for
them. Both mandrake and periwinkle were supposed to be endowed with
mysterious powers against demoniacal possession. At the end of the
description of the mandrake in the _Herbarium of Apuleius_ there is
this prescription:--

"For witlessness, that is devil sickness or demoniacal
possession, take from the body of this same wort mandrake by
the weight of three pennies, administer to drink in warm
water as he may find most convenient--soon he will be
healed."--_Herb. Ap._, 32.

Of periwinkle we read:--

"This wort is of good advantage for many purposes, that is
to say first against devil sickness and demoniacal
possessions and against snakes and wild beasts and against
poisons and for various wishes and for envy and for terror
and that thou mayst have grace, and if thou hast the wort
with thee thou shalt be prosperous and ever acceptable. This
wort thou shalt pluck thus, saying, 'I pray thee, vinca
pervinca, thee that art to be had for thy many useful
qualities, that thou come to me glad blossoming with thy
mainfulness, that thou outfit me so that I be shielded and
ever prosperous and undamaged by poisons and by water;' when
thou shalt pluck this wort thou shalt be clean of every
uncleanness, and thou shalt pick it when the moon is nine
nights old and eleven nights and thirteen nights and thirty
nights and when it is one night old."--_Herb. Ap._

[Illustration: MANDRAKE FROM A SAXON HERBAL
(Sloane 1975,