The evil eye. An account of this ancient and wide spread superstition

I EJACULATED BY ENVY 3
The belief that there is a power of evil working,
which is ejaculated (as Bacon says) upon any object
it beholds, has existed in all times and in all countries.
It was adopted and sanctioned alike by the Fathers
of the Church, by mediaeval physicians, and all
writers on occult science ; while in our own day it
still exists among all savage nations, and even here
in England in our very midst. Heliodorus" makes >
Charicles say of his host : " I fancy an envious eye i
has looked upon this man also ; he seems to be
affected much in the same manner as Chariclea.
Indeed I think so too, I replied; and it is probable
enough, for he went directly after her in the
procession."^
The origin of the^belief is lost in the obscurity of
prehistoric ages. The enlightened call it superstition
; buFTFEolds its sway over the people of many
countries, savage as well as civilised, and must be
set down as one of the hereditary and instinctive
convictions of mankind.
The stories that might be adduced of the^
constancy of the belief in a blighting power of
influencing other persons, and of controlling events
Injuriously to others, even in these days of board-
school enlightenment are almost infinite. Here,
in Somerset, the pig is taken ill and dies— "he
was overlooked," A murrain aiflicts a farmer's
cattle ; he goes oft" secretly to the " white witch,"
that is the old witch -finder, to ascertain who has
"overlooked his things" and to learn the best
''^ Theagenes
and Chariclea (Trans. 1789), vol. i. p. 145. Heliodorus,
Bishop of Tricca in Thessaly, about a.d. 380, was a very firm believer
in the evil eye, and frequently refers to it in his works, no doubt faithfully
reflecting the opinions of his day.
3 See an article on the "Evil Eye" in Chambers's Encyclopccdia. For
numerous quotations on the subject see New Eng. Diet. s. v. " Evil Eye."