had this happened than blood spurted from the Khan's nostrils and death overtook him.34
Agate
amulets still find favor in Spain, a number of interesting examples
having recently been acquired in that country by Mr. W. L. Hildburgh,
many of them being offered for sale in small stalls, both in the
capital, Madrid, and in other of the Spanish cities.35 In a
number of cases these amulets are milky white agates, this hue
recommending their use as lactation amulets. In one specimen, however,
secured in Seville, the agate showed seven concentric white stripes,
probably indicating that it had been used as a charm against the Evil
Eye as well as to favor the secretion of milk.
For
the latter purpose, in lieu of agate, white glass beads are often sold,
a dealer in a small stall in Madrid having in his stock a string of
fifty such beads which he sold one by one to the women who had faith in
their efficacy ; agate beads of combined grayish, reddish and white
coloration are also to be found.
Quite
an ambitious type of these popular amulets is figured by Mr. Hildburgh
(PI. i, p. 64, fig. 7). This is a triple pendant, with chain attached
for suspension, the upper part being an agate grayish-white and
reddish, probably rendering it at once a lactation amulet and one
serving still another use as a woman's amulet. The middle of this
pendant was of blue glass banded with other colors, and the terminal
was of black glass, spotted blue, yellow and red; both of these glass
objects are supposed to have served against the Evil Eye. Thus this
particular amulet combined a number of virtuer.
Coral is a favorite material for amulets in Spain as in many other lands, being shaped for this purpose as a "fig-
**
J. G. Frazer, " Balder the Beautiful," London, 1913, vol. ii, p. 142;
citing B. Julg, " Kalmückische Märchen," Leipzig, 1866, No. 12, pp. 58
sqq.
" W. L. Hildburgh, " Further Notes in Spanish Amulets," in Folk Lore, rol. xxlv. No. 1, March 31, 1913, pp. 63-74; 2 plates.
