dial
potion were stirred about with the ring finger, the heart would quickly
realize the presence of poison, and would thus give warning against
drinking it ; the fourth finger was therefore sometimes called the
"medical finger." 3e
The
idea that the ring possessed a mystic restraining power finds
expression in the curious custom of the Bagobos of the Philippine
Islands, who encircle the wrists and ankles of the dangerously ill with
rings of brass wire, in the belief that these serve to keep the soul
from taking its flight.37 An analogous, although apparently
contradictory impulse induces the Greek inhabitants of the island of
Scarpanto (Carpathus), near Rhodes, to take off all rings from a dead
person lest the soul should be bound to the body even after death; the
pressure of a ring on the little finger being sufficient to interfere
with the freedom of the spirit.38 Similiar beliefs obtained as to the secret binding power of knots.
A
ring made from the hoof of a wild ass was supposed to possess
medicinal virtue, and one made from the hoof of a rhinoceros, if placed
on the finger, was believed to cure certain nervous disorders. A ring
of rhinoceros-horn was a still more powerful remedial agent and its
wear was favored in India as an antidote for poisons and to cure
convulsions or spasms.39 A ring made from the hoof of the elk possessed similar
36 Ibid., p. 570.
37 Blumentritt, " Das Stromgebiet des Rio Grande de Mindanao," in Peterraann's Geographische Mitteilungen, vol. xxxvii, p. Ill, 1891.
38 Blackwood's Magazine for February, 1886, p. 238.
39 Jacobi Wolfii, " Curiosus amuletorum scrutator," Francofurti et Lipsiae, 1692, pp. 390, 392.
