es young men with it, and
then kills them. The man is also an evil being, for if any one comes
near him he opens his mouth and breathes upon them, and his breath
causes sickness. It is easy to see what this tradition means: it is the
damp marsh wind, laden with foul and dangerous odours; and the
woman's harp is the wind playing across the marsh rushes at
nightfall." [388] It is the Queen of the Fairies in the
_Midsummer-Night's Dream_ who says to the Fairy King,--

These are the forgeries of jealousy
And never, since the middle summer's spring,
Met we on hill, in dale, forest or mead,
By paved fountain, or by rushy brook,
Or in the beached margent of the sea,
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
But with thy brawls thou hast disturb'd our sport.
No night is now with hymn or carol blest:
Therefore the moon, the governess of floods,
Pale in her anger, washes all the air,
That rheumatic diseases do abound
And this same progeny of evils comes
From our debate, from our dissension
We are their parents and original.

It will be thought rashly iconoclastic if we cast the least doubt upon
the idea that blindness is caused directly by the light of the moon.
So many cases have been adduced that it is considered a settled
point. We, however, dare to dispute some of the evidence. For
instance "A poor man born in the village _Rowdil_, commonly
called St. Clement's, blind, lost his sight at every change of the
moon, which obliged him to keep his bed for a day or two, and then
he recovered his sight." [389] If logic would enable us to prove a
negative to this statement, we would meet it with simple denial. But
we have no hesitation in saying that an investigation into this case
would have exonerated the moon of any share in the affliction, and
have revealed some other and likely cause. Our chief objection to
this story is its element of periodicity; and we would require
overwhelming testimony to establish even the probability of such a
miracle once a month. That permanent injury may accrue to those
whose sleeping eyes are exposed all night to the brightness of a full
moon is probable enough. But this would take place not because the
moon's beams were peculiarly baneful, but because any strong light
would have a hurtful effect upon the eyes when fixed for hours in
the condition of sleep.

We can quite believe that in a dry atmosphere like that of Egypt