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

I50 THE EVIL EYE chap.
of children turpiaila res, sccBva or sccsvola, and he
discusses at some length the development of the
word. 249
Dodwell (vol. ii. p. 34) says : " They are frequently
found in Italy of bronze, and the other extremity of
the symbol is terminated by a hand which is closed ;
the thumb protruding between the fore and middle
fingers, "^"^
This is but a very partial description of a most
remarkable object much easier portrayed than
described. It is of so obscene a character that it
cannot here be reproduced.
A full-sized illustration of one in bronze from the
Dresden collection is given (p. 81) in Jahn's Ueberden
Abei'-glauhen, etc. It is evidently a pendant-amulet,
having three extra eyelets, from which probably little
bells were hung, such as will be seen later on in our
illustrations of the Sirens and Sea-horses. One
branch of the pendant consists of a phallus such as
Frommannd describes (p. 5), ta7n rigidiini reddere
q2iain cornu ; while to balance it, is an arm ending in
a fist with the thumb protruding as stated by Dodwell.
The central part or body is composed of another membrum,
of the kind constantly found as a separate
amulet. Any number of these may be seen both as
amulets and as ex votos in the private Museum at
Naples, and also in the Museum of the Collegio
249 u Potest vel ab eo quod pueris turpicula res in collo qucedam suspenditur,
ne quid obsit bonre scsevte causa : unde screvola appellata. Ea dicta ab
screva, id est sinistra, quod quK sinistra sunt bona auspicia existimantur : a quo
dicitur comitia aliudve quid ; sic dicta avis, sinistra quae nunc est. Id a Grreco
est, quod hi sinistram vocant crKalav : quare quod dixit Obscoenum Omen, est
omen turpe, quod unde (id) dicitur, Osmen ex quo S extritum."—Varro, De
Lingiia Latina, viii. 97. Ed. Sprengel, Berlin, 1885.
260