He brings cool dew in his little bill, And lets it fall on the souls of sin; You can see the mark on his red breast still, Of fires that scorch as he drops it in. J. G. Whittier, _The Robin_. If a robin finds a dead body unburied, it will cover the face at least, if not the whole body.--Grey, _On Shakespeare_, ii. 226. The robins so red, now these babies are dead, Ripe strawberry leaves doth over them spread. _Babes in the Wood._ It is unlucky either to keep or to kill a robin. J. H. Pott says, if any one attempts to detain a robin which has sought hospitality, let him “fear some new calamity.”--_Poems_ (1780). SALAMANDER. The salamander lives in the fire. Should a glass-house fire be kept up without extinction for more than seven years, there is no doubt but that a salamander will be generated in the cinders.--J. P. Andrews, _Anecdotes, etc._, 359. The salamander seeks the hottest fire to breed in, but soon quenches it by the extreme coldness of its body.--Pliny, _Natural History_, x. 67; xxix. 4. Food touched by a salamander is poisonous.--Ditto, xxix. 23. SALIVA. The human saliva is a cure for blindness.--Ditto, xxviii. 7. If a man spits on a serpent, it will die. Ditto, vii. 2. The human saliva is a charm against fascination and witchcraft. Thrice on my breast I spit, to guard me safe From fascinating charms. Theocritos. To unbewitch the bewitched, you must spit into the shoe of your right foot.--Scot, _Discoverie of Witchcraft_ (1584). Spitting for luck is a most common superstition. Fishwomen generally spit upon their hansel.--Grose. A blacksmith who has to shoe a stubborn horse, spits in his hand to drive off the “evil spirit.” The swarty smith spits in his buckthorne fist. Browne, _Britannia’s Pastorals_, i. If a pugilist spits in his hand, his blows will be more telling.--Pliny, _Natural History_, xxviii. 7. SCORPION. Scorpions sting themselves. Scorpions have an oil which is a remedy for their stings. ’Tis true the scorpion’s oil is said To cure the wound the venom made. S. Butler, _Hudibras_, iii. 2 (1678). SPIDER. It is unlucky to kill a moneyspinner. Small spiders, called “money-spinners,” prognosticate good luck, if they are not destroyed or removed from the person on whom they attach themselves.--Park. The bite of a spider is venomous. No spider will spin its web on an Irish oak. Spiders will never set their webs on a cedar roof.--Caughey, _Letters_ (1845). Spiders indicate where gold is to be found. (See SPIDERS INDICATORS OF GOLD.) There are no spiders in Ireland, because St. Patrick cleared the island of all vermin. Spiders envenom whatever they touch.