In Tibet antiseptics are employed in surgical operations, the rationale of their use in that country being the preservation of the wound from evil spirits; and when smallpox rages in the neighborhood of the city of Leh, capital of the province of Ladakh, the country people seek to ward off the epidemic by placing thorns on their bridges and at their boundary lines.[382] This practice is strikingly analogous in principle to some of the superstitious uses of iron and steel in the form of sharp instruments, of which mention has been made elsewhere in this volume. The aboriginal Tibetans ascribe illnesses to the spite of demons, and hence a chief object of their religious rites is the pacification of these malignant beings by the sacrifice of a cow, pig, goat, or other animal.[383] Throughout Christendom it is customary for those present to invoke the divine blessing upon a person who sneezes, and the Moslem, under like circumstances, prays to Allah for aid against the powers of evil. In either case the underlying idea appears to be the same, namely, the doctrine of invading spirits. In ancient Egypt illnesses were thought to be caused by demons who had somehow entered the patient’s body and taken up their abode there; and the Chaldean physicians, actuated by the same belief, were wont to prescribe the most nauseating medicines in order to thoroughly disgust the demon in possession, and thus enforce his departure.[384] This doctrine of spiritual possession was formerly even supposed to be warranted by Scripture, and especially by a verse of the 141st Psalm: “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” This passage was interpreted as an entreaty for preservation from evil spirits, who were likely to enter the body through the mouth,[385] especially during the acts of yawning, sneezing, talking, and eating. The Hindus consider yawning as dangerous for this reason, and hence the practice of mouth-washing, which is a part of their daily ritual. Hence also their custom of cracking their fingers and exclaiming “Great God!” after yawning, to intimidate the _Bhúts_, or malignant spirits. Sneezing is usually accounted lucky in India, except at the commencement of an undertaking, because it means the expulsion of a _Bhút_.[386] Josephus relates having seen a Jew named Eleazar exorcise devils from people who were possessed, in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian and many of his soldiers. His mode of procedure consisted in applying to the demoniac’s nose a ring containing a piece of the root of a magical herb, and then withdrawing the evil spirit through the nostrils, meanwhile repeating certain incantations originally composed by Solomon. V. SALUTATION AFTER SNEEZING