I am always armed with a sprig of laurel, was said by persons who had unexpectedly escaped from any threatened danger. The laurel was thought by the ancients to be an antidote against poison, and to afford security against lightning. On account of these supposed properties, Tiberius Caesar is said to have constantly worn a branch of laurel around his neck. Laurel water was prescribed by the ancient physicians, in the cure of those fits to which children are subjected. It was, therefore until within a very few years, always found in the shops of the apothecaries. Later experience has shown, that the distilled water of the laurel leaf, when strongly impregnated, is a powerful and deadly poison. It was with this preparation that Captain Donellan killed Sir Theodosius Baughton. The opinion of the power of the laurel in preserving against lightning, rests on no better foundation than, that of its efficacy in preventing the effects of poison, or in curing epilepsy. A horse-shoe nailed on the threshold of the door, was supposed by the common people in this country, to preserve the house from the effects of witchcraft, and it is still in repute among our sailors, who nail a horse-shoe to the mast, with a view of preserving the vessel from such evil influence.
Fuente: Erasmo, 79.
