THE FOLK LORE OF BIRDS IN RELATION TO ESSEX. 69
as will be seen from the specimens the prescriptions were of
the most outrageous nature. Ravens' eggs roasted with the
parings of a murderer's nails were believed to be an infallible cure
for ague. It is a general custom in Thuringia to keep Crossbills
in captivity because the peasants believe the birds can relieve
them of their diseases. A bird with the upper mandible turned
to the right could transfer colds and rheumatism from man to
itself and if the mandible bent to the left it could render the
same service to women. The water left by the bird was drunk
as a specific against epilepsy and the corpse was supposed to be
preserved from decay by nature. No less a person than
F. Willughby, who lived from 1635-1672, has been described
as the greatest of our earlier ornithologists and was the pupil
and friend of our great Essex naturalist, Ray, was responsible
for the next prescription: "One or two ounces of the powder
of this bird (i.e. White Wagtail) put in a pot close-stopt and
baked in an oven together with the feathers, taken in Saxifrage
water, or strong white wine, is said to be good against the Stone,
especially that of the kidneys." An old writer states that
"The eyes and heart of a Nightingale, laid about men in bed,
keep them awake. To make one die for sleep.—If anyone
dissolve them and give them secretly to any in drink, he will
never sleep but will so die, and it admits not of cure." Here is
another sovereign remedy recommended by Willughby, this time
the bird is the Wren: "It perfectly cures the Stone of the
kidneys or bladder (as Aetius writes), being salted and eaten
raw, or being burnt in a pot close covered, and the ashes of one
whole bird taken at once, either by itself, or with a little Phyllon
(a kind of Mercury) and Pepper, or lastly being roasted whole,
only the feathers plucked off and cast away." Great medicinal
value is said to have been attributed to the Swallow. Among
other birds it was considered a cure for falling sickness. The
ashes of the Swallow, mixed with honey, were applied to sore
eyes, and another remedy for the same affection was blood
drawn from under the left wing, while the heart was believed to
aid the memory and cure ague. The ancient Egyptians endowed
the beautiful Bee-Eater with medicinal power. For a female
complaint part of the treatment advocated was to fumigate
her eyes with the shanks of the legs of this bird and the fat was