s? When these causes and effects are explained,"
he concludes, "so may the virtue of amulets be accounted for." Ancient
philosophers laid it down, as a proof of ignorance, the condemnation
of a science not easily understood. In this way the advocates of
amulets and charms have been enabled to silence people who have had
the hardihood to throw odium on their superstitions. Believers in
amulets and charms remind us that it is a well-ascertained fact in
nature, that for every bane there is an antidote. Wherever the
stinging nettle grows, the slimy stem of the dock is near; whenever
the wasp stings, honey gathered by the industrious bee may be had,
without going far, to put on the injured part; when the cold is most
intense without, the fire burns brightest within; and if there be evil
spirits seeking man's hurt, there are good angels hovering round him
for his protection.

Mr. E. Chambers, who published his _Cyclopaedia, or A Universal
Dictionary of Arts and Sciences_, in 1728, says that an amulet
(_amuletum_) is a kind of medicament hung about the neck or other part
of the body to prevent or remove diseases. Amulets, he proceeds, are
frequently nothing else than spells or charms, consisting of quaint
words and characters, supposed to have the virtue of warding off ill.
And Mr. Chambers informs his readers, under the word "charm," that a
charm is a magic power or spell, by which, with the assistance of the
devil, sorcerers and witches are supposed to do wondrous things, far
surpassing the power of nature.

Ancient poets, who were of a superstitious turn of mind, attached no
small importance to amulets and charms. One of them says:

"Enchantments pluck out of the sky,
The moon though she be plac'd on high;
Dame Circe with her charms so fine,
Ulysses' mates did turn to swine:
The snake with charms is burst in twain,
In meadows where she doth remain.

* * * * *

These herbs did Meris give to me,
And poysons pluckt at Pontos,
For there they grow and multiply,
And do not so amongst us.
With these she made herself become
A wolf, and hid her in the wood;
She fetched up souls out of the tombe,
Removing corn from where it stood."

The following is an old translation from Virgil:

"From thence a virgin priest is come
From out Massyla land,
Sometimes the temple there she kept,
And from her heavenly hand
The dragon meat d