1269. If you put clothes of a live person on a corpse, when the clothes decay the owner will die. _St. Joseph, Mo._ 1270. It is quite customary, both in the United States and in Canada, to give the whole house a thorough cleaning after a death has occurred, even when the deceased has undergone no prolonged illness and has died of no contagious disease. A day or two after the funeral one sometimes sees, particularly in country homes, feather beds, mattresses, etc., etc., put out to air. Sometimes even rooms are whitewashed in the purification process. CHAPTER XIX. MISCELLANEOUS. ACTIONS. 1271. If a child in eating an apple merely girdles it and leaves the apple good at stem and below, it indicates that he will be a poor man; the saying is, "a poor man's core." 1272. It is unlucky to turn back after starting to go anywhere. To avert misfortune after turning back, make the sign of the cross in the dust with the heel, and spit in the cross. _Arkansas (negro), and Kentucky._ 1273. It is unlucky to turn back after having once started out. _Quebec._ 1274. To get out of bed on the wrong side puts one out all day. "He got out of bed with the wrong foot foremost" is said of a person who has a fit of crossness. _Northern Ohio._ 1275. To drop your books on the way to school signifies that you will make mistakes in your lessons. _Chestertown, Md._ 1276. Drop a book and you will miss your lesson, unless it is immediately picked up and kissed. _Alabama._ 1277. Whoever eats the last piece of bread will be an old maid. _Pennsylvania._ 1278. If you break something, you will break two other things. _Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio._ 1279. To twirl a chair on one leg means that you are going to fight with somebody. _Peabody, Mass._ 1280. Whirling an empty chair indicates that a whipping is in store for the transgressor. 1281. If you twirl a chair around on one leg, it is a sign that you are about to break dishes. _Chestertown, Md._ 1282. You mustn't pay the doctor entirely, or there will be sickness in the family. _Lonsdale, R.I._ 1283. You must leave by the door through which you enter, or there will be trouble with the family, or ill luck to yourself. _Pennsylvania._ 1284. If you leave by any other door than the one through which you have entered, it is said that you will not come again. _Cumberland, Me._ 1285. In bathing, the eyes should always be rubbed towards the nose, as that makes them large, and rubbing out the opposite way makes them small. _Cambridge, Mass._ 1286. In climbing a fence,-- Get over, meet with clover, Get through, meet with a shoe; Get under, meet with a blunder. _Sunderland, Mass._ 1287. If you step on a grave, you will never grow any more. _Chestertown, Md. (negro)._