Swiss Superstitions,
ANIMALS AND BIRDS. SOME STRANGE BELIEFS.
Many interesting superstitions about animals are being collected at Geneva by the 'Swiss League of Nature Pro tection,' which is doing admirable work in unearthing the strange beliefs that one finds ? in the country districts of Switzerland.
Perhaps the best known legend about the snake is that of the cat headed viper, complete with paws and whiskers, and an uncanny power of fascinating birds. In the district of the Col de Forclaz. to see a snake before noon is a sign of a storm pending in the afternoon. This is probably a sound deduction from the habits of the beast, which is aware that it will have to eat early because the storm will compel it to lie up in the afternoon. There are many valleys in v;hich the view is held that to see a snake is a sign of a change in the weather. There are many supersitions about foxes. Strangely enough, Swiss legend has transferred to the fox our own legend of the dog which howls at night as a portent of impending death. No peasant in the districts where this be lief is held would dream of attacking or firing upon a fox in such conditions. Prom the Val d 'Kerens comes a de lightful story of how the fox gets rid of the vermin which afflict his kind. He is supposed to take a bunch of some green stuff in his mouth and then lower himself backwards into water, beginning with his brush. The vermin fly from the water and ultimately take
refuge in the bunch of greenery which the fox immediately drops into the water. There is no clue to the origin of the story that the jay can make itself and its nest invisible to escape the attention of birds and other animals of prey. But the view is held in the Val dTlliez. There are also many legends of metamorphoses and spontaneous gen eration. Thus plane trees are believed to generate mosquitoes, and dung heaps' to give birth to worms. Some of these beliefs may be due to the age-old supersition of the 'miasma'' which marshes and other unhealthy
places were reputed to give off. A sur vival- of this may even be found in a widespread belief that the breath of certain animals, e.g., of the frog, is in itself noxious. There are many legends about liz ards, toads, and salamanders. The mere sight of a salamander is supposed to bring bad luck. While the horror of snakes, lizards, and suchlike is understandable, it is difficult to see why the dragon-fly, that embodiment of grace, should be looked upon with suspicion. In some valleys, however, the dragonfly is held in abhorrence, and he is credited with a sinister habit of poking out the eyes of passers-by. Perhaps no race in the world is more sympathetic to animals than the Swiss. You have only to observe the tameness of the birds in the big cities to be sure of this. It is to be hoped that this society of nature-lovers will continue its research into the quaint animal superstitions of Switzerland. -.