(M244) The Arabs call a man who has been bitten by a snake “the sound one”; leprosy or the scab they designate “the blessed disease”; the left side they name “the lucky side”; they will not speak of a lion by his right name, but refer to him as for example “the fox.”(1484) In Africa the lion is alluded to with the same ceremonious respect as the wolf and the bear in northern Europe and Asia. The Arabs of Algeria, who hunt the lion, speak of him as Mr. John Johnson (Johan-ben-el-Johan), because he has the noblest qualities of man and understands all languages. Hence, too, the first huntsman to catch sight of the beast points at him with his finger and says, “He is not there”; for if he were to say “He is there,” the lion would eat him up.(1485) Except under dire necessity the Waziguas of eastern Africa never mention the name of the lion from fear of attracting him. They call him “the owner of the land” or “the great beast.”(1486) The negroes of Angola always use the word _ngana_ (“sir”) in speaking of the same noble animal, because they think that he is “fetish” and would not fail to punish them for disrespect if they omitted to do so.(1487) Bushmen and Bechuanas both deem it unlucky to speak of the lion by his proper name; the Bechuanas call him “the boy with the beard.”(1488) During an epidemic of smallpox in Mombasa, British East Africa, it was noticed that the people were unwilling to mention the native name (_ndui_) of the disease. They referred to it either as “grains of corn” (_tete_) or simply as “the bad disease.”(1489) So the Chinese of Amoy are averse to speak of fever by its proper name; they prefer to call it “beggar’s disease,” hoping thereby to make the demons of fever imagine that they despise it and that therefore it would be useless to attack them.(1490) Some of the natives of Nigeria dread the owl as a bird of ill omen and are loth to mention its name, preferring to speak of it by means of a circumlocution such as “the bird that makes one afraid.”(1491) The Herero think that if they see a snake and call it by its name, the reptile will sting them, but that if they call it a strap (_omuvia_) it will lie still.(1492) When Nandi warriors are out on an expedition, they may not call a knife a knife (_chepkeswet_); they must call it “an arrow for bleeding cattle” (_loñget_); and none of the party may utter the usual word employed in greeting males.(1493) In Madagascar there seems to be an aversion to pronouncing the word for lightning (_vàratra_); the word for mud (_fòtaka_) is sometimes substituted for it.(1494) Again, it is strictly forbidden to mention the word for crocodile (_màmba_) near some rivers of Madagascar; and if clothes should be wetted in certain other rivers of the island, you may not say that they are wet (_lèna_); you must say that they are on fire (_may_) or that they are drinking water (_misòtro ràno_).(1495) A certain spirit, who used to inhabit a lake in Madagascar,