In the oldest
existing cyclopaedia--the _Natural History_ of Pliny--the list of
dangers apprehended from menstruation is longer than any furnished
by mere barbarians. According to Pliny, the touch of a menstruous
woman turned wine to vinegar, blighted crops, killed seedlings,
blasted gardens, brought down the fruit from trees, dimmed mirrors,
blunted razors, rusted iron and brass (especially at the waning of
the moon), killed bees, or at least drove them from their hives,
caused mares to miscarry, and so forth. Similarly, in various parts
of Europe, it is still believed that if a woman in her courses
enters a brewery the beer will turn sour; if she touches beer, wine,
vinegar, or milk, it will go bad; if she makes jam, it will not
keep; if she mounts a mare, it will miscarry; if she touches buds,
they will wither; if she climbs a cherry tree, it will die. In
Brunswick people think that if a menstruous woman assists at the
killing of a pig, the pork will putrefy. In the Greek island of
Calymnos a woman at such times may not go to the well to draw water,
nor cross a running stream, nor enter the sea.
Pages:
1670
1671
1672
1673
1674
1675
1676
1677
1678
1679
1680
1681
1682
1683
1684
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694