Having bathed Plutus in the sea, says the servant Cario, we went to the temple of Esculapius; and when our wafers and preparatory sacrifices were offered on the altar, and our cakes on the flame of Vulcan, we laid him on a couch, as was proper, and made ready our own mattresses. When the priest had extinguished the lights, he told us to go to sleep, adding that if any of us heard the hissing we should by no means stir. We therefore all remained in bed, and made no noise. As for myself, I could not sleep, on account of the odor of a basin of savory porridge which an old woman had at the side of her bed, and which I longed for amazingly. Being, therefore, anxious to creep near it, I raised my head and saw the sacristan take the cakes and dried figs from the sacred table, and going the round of the altars, put all that he could find into a bag. It occurred to me that it would be meritorious in me to follow his example, so I arose to secure the basin of porridge, fearing only that the priest might get at it before me, with his garlands on. . . . The old woman, on hearing me, stretched forth her hand. But I hissed, and seized her fingers with my teeth, as if I were an Esculapian snake; then, drawing back her hand again, she lay down and wrapped herself up quickly, while I swallowed the porridge, and, when full, retired to rest. The surprising cures frequently effected were inexplicable, even to the scientific minds of antiquity. Victor Duruy, in his "History of Rome,"[103:1] relates the following instance, on the authority of the Greek writer Ælian. A man named Euphronios, who had been an ardent follower of Epicurus, suffered from some obstinate affection which his physicians failed to cure. His relatives therefore carried him into a neighboring Esculapian temple, where in the night, during sleep, he heard the voice of an oracle, saying, "In the case of this man, there is only one means of restoration, namely, to burn the hooks of Epicurus, to knead these sacrilegious ashes with wax, and to cover the stomach and chest with the compound." These directions were carried out, and Euphronios was promptly cured and converted. FOOTNOTES: [97:1] J. B. Thiers, _Traité des Superstitions_, p. 385. [98:1] _Archives générales de Médecine_, November, 1891, pp. 582 _et seq._ [98:2] Frank Granger, _The Worship of the Romans_, p. 158. [99:1] Daniel Le Clerc, _The History of Physic_, p. 84. [99:2] Le Clerc, p. 109. [100:1] _Encyclopædia Britannica_, art. "Medicine." [100:2] _History of Medicine._ [101:1] Mary Hamilton, _Incubation in Pagan Temples_. [101:2] Dr. Carl du Prel, _Die Mystik der alten Griechen_; Leipzig, 1888. [103:1] Vol. vi, p. 399. CHAPTER IX STYPTIC CHARMS