of no injury to you!' There are, indeed, some, who, when they are praised, avert their faces, not to indicate that praise in itself is unpleasant, but to avoid fascination; it being thought that fascination is often effected by means of praise";[1] or in other words, the poison being given in the honey of flattery. Now in order to close up this _dilatationem_ or opening of the system, a _corona baccaris_ was worn, which, by its odoriferous and constipating qualities, produced this effect, as Dioscorides assures us.[2] Virgil, in his Seventh Eclogue, alludes to the same, antidote:-- "Aut si ultra placitum laudant, baccare frontem Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua futuro." [Footnote 1: Hier. Fracastorius, _De Sympathiâ et Antipathiâ_, Lib. i. cap. 23. See also Vincentius Alsarius, _De Invid. et Fasc. Vet._, in Graevius, _Thes. Rom. Antiq._ Vol. xii. p. 890.] [Footnote 2: Lib. iii. cap. 46, confirmed also by Athenaeus, _Deipnos_. Lib. iii.] Tertullian, in his work "De Virginibus Velandis," states the same fact as Fracastorius, and says that among the heathens there are persons who are possessed of a terrible somewhat which they call _Fascinum_, effected by excessive praise: _"Nam est aliquod etiam apud Ethnicos metuendum, quod Fascinum vocant, infeliciorem laudis et gloriae enormioris eventum_." To avert this evil influence, every well-mannered person among the ancients said, "_Proefiscine_," before wishing well to another,--as clearly appears from the following passage cited by Charisius [Footnote: _Inst. Gram._ Lib. iv.] from Titinius in "Setina." One person exclaims, "_Paula mea, amabo----_" Whereupon a friend who stands by says, "He was going to praise Paula!" "_Ecce qui loquitur, Paulam puellam laudare parabat!_" And another friend present cries out, "By Pollux! you should better say, '_Proefiscini_,' or you may fascinate her": "_Pol! tu in laudem addito Proefiscini, ne puella fascinaretur_." [Footnote: See also Turnebi _Comm. in Orat. Sec. contra P.S. Rullum de Leg. Agrar._ M.T. Ciceronis.] This same custom exists at the present day among the Turks, who always accompany a compliment to you or to anything belonging to you with the phrase, _"Mashallah!"_ (God be praised!)--thus referring the good gifts you possess to the Higher Spirit. To omit this is a breach of courtesy, and in such case the other person instantly adds it in order to avert fascination; for the superstition is, that, if this phrase be omitted, we may seem to refer all good gifts to our own merit instead of God's grace, and so provoke the divine wrath. The same custom also exists in Italy; and the common reply to any salutation in which your looks or health may be complimented is, "_Grazia a Dio!_" In some parts of Italy, if you praise a pretty child in the street, or even if you look earnestly at it, the nurse will be sure to say, "_Dio la benedica!_" so as to cut off all ill-luck; and if you happen to be walking with a child and catch any person watching