The comet of 590 was, according to some authors, the occasion of a custom, which is extensively diffused among all the nations of Christendom. In the year of this comet a frightful plague prevailed, which was alleged to be due to its influence. While the malady was at its height, a sneezing was frequently followed by death; whence the saying, _God bless you!_ with which, since that time, sneezers are saluted. St. Austin tells us that “the ancients were wont to go to bed again, if they sneezed while they put on their shoe.” Aristotle says: “Sneezing from noon to midnight was good, but from night to noon unlucky.” 7. The custom of throwing an old shoe for good luck over or after the bride and bridegroom, upon their leaving the church, or the home of the bride, after the wedding, has, of late years, been as it were revived. It is, unquestionably, one of those demonstrations of good wishes which find their way in the commonest modes of expression. But, it is not confined to weddings; the propitiation extends to all prospective views of good fortune. It is related that an English cattle-dealer desired his wife to “trull her left shoe arter him,” when he started for Norwich to buy a lottery-ticket. As he drove off on his errand, he looked round to see if she practiced the charm, and consequently he received the shoe in his face, with such force as to black his eyes. He went, and bought his ticket, which turned up a prize of £600. 8. The horse-shoe has been, from time immemorial, considered a protection from witchcraft and other ills; and has been nailed at the entrance of dwellings, to prevent the entrance of witches. Butler, in “Hudibras,” makes his conjurer chase away evil spirits by the horse-shoe; and Gay, in one of his Fables, makes a supposed witch complain: “The horse-shoe’s nailed, each threshold’s guard.” Nelson the great English admiral, was of a credulous turn, had great faith in the luck of a horse-shoe, and one was nailed to the mast of the ship _Victory_. “Lucky Dr. James” attributed the success of his fever-powder to his finding a horse-shoe. When a poor apothecary, he was introduced to Newbery, of St. Paul’s church-yard, to vend the medicine for him. One Sunday morning, as James was on his way to Newbery’s country-house at Vauxhall, in passing over Westminster Bridge, seeing a horse-shoe lying in the road, and considering it to be a sign of good luck, he put the shoe into his pocket. As Newbery was a shrewd man, he became James’s agent for the sale of his fever-powder; whilst the doctor ascribed all his success to the horse-shoe, which he subsequently adopted as the crest upon his carriage. (See 62.) 9. Cauls are little membranes found on some children, encompassing the head when born. This is thought a good omen to the child itself, and many believe that whoever obtains it by purchase will be fortunate and escape dangers. The caul is esteemed an infallible preservative against drowning, and is much sought after by sailors.