moyedes and the Eskimo. Some of
the resemblances are so exceedingly close and curious as to severely
shake our belief in the dawn-sun-spring-lightning interpretations of the
mythologists. They drive us to the conclusion that the Jason myth is not
a story capable of explanation as a nature-myth, or as a result of 'a
disease of language'; for as is pertinently remarked, 'So many languages
could not take the same malady in the same way; nor can we imagine any
stories of natural phenomena that would inevitably suggest this tale to
so many diverse races.' The rational theory is that the Jason story,
like its analogues among strange races, had its origin in a time of
savage conditions, when animals were believed to talk, when human
sacrifices and cannibalism were practised, and when efforts to escape
being eaten were natural.

CHAPTER II.

THE MAGIC WAND.

It is sufficiently remarkable that the rod, besides being an emblem of
authority, is also an instrument of the supernatural. An indispensable
instrument, one may say; for was ever a magician depicted in book, in
picture, or in the mind's eye, without a wand? Does even the most
amateurish of prestidigitateurs attempt to emulate the performances of
the once famous Wizard of the North, without the aid of the magic staff?
The magician, necromancer, soothsayer, or conjurer, is as useless
without his wand as a Newcastle pitman is without his 'daug.'

At first thought it might be assumed that the association of the rod or
wand with necromancy is merely an indication of power or authority, in
the same way as the sceptre is associated with kingship. But there is
something more in it. Magic has been well called 'the shadow of
religion,' and the early religious idea found expression in symbols.
These symbols, as we know, have in many cases retained a certain
significance long after the ideas they were meant to convey have been
lost, or abandoned, or modified. If we bear these things in mind, it is
not difficult to discover a religious origin for the symbolic wand of
necromancy.

Mr. Moncure Conway, in his book on Demonology and Devil-lore, mentions a
thing which seems peculiarly apposite to our subject. In the old town of
Hanover there is a certain schoolhouse, in which, above the teacher's
chair, there was originally a representation of a dove perched upon a
rod--the rod in this case being meant to typify a branch. Below the dove
and rod there was this inscription: 'Thi