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Show Why We Say "God Bless You!" to Sneezers A FRENCH author. Saintyv..s, has published a monograph entitled in English translation trans-lation "Sneezing and Yawning in Maple. Ethnography Ethnog-raphy and Medical Folklore." The suctions devoted de-voted to sneezing are briefly reviewed in Le Progres Medical. Among many primitive peoples a sneeze signified signi-fied the critical mcmeut at which an apparition became visible or a danger had passed. It was the occasion for felicitations and good wishes, just as it still is among the "civilized" whites of to-day. When one barbaric monarch sneezed the word was quickly passed along by word of mouth until all of the subjects had been Informed, and the latter then made solemn wishes for His Majesty's health. At another African court the courtiers turned their backs and slapped them- fllHiririiinxmrr selves on the thigh at the royal sneeze. In a third count ry at the sneeze of any Important personago those within earshot fell to their knees, kissed the ground aud wished tho sneezer all manner of good luck. The Roman Emperor Tiberius mado all hands saluto him whenever he sneezed, but this seems to have been a personal matter, for Pliny had never heard the like. AmotiK tho ancient Greeks artificial sneezing, produced doubtless with a feather, was used for a variety of troubles hiccough, crusts in the nasal passages, headache and difficult labor. It was also used for migraine in the Middle Ages and, after tho introduction of tobacco, snuff was used in a variety of disorder-. Sneezing powders were also in common use, and attempts were mado to break up epileptic seizures by their exhibition ex-hibition Certain peoples believed that sneezing by a sick man was of bad prognostic significance while others took the exactly opposed view that if a sneeze could not be provoked the patient could not recover. In 1 S 1 7 Double, a writer on symptomatology, believed that both prognostics' could hold good, according to tho case. |