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

152 THE EVIL EYE CHAP.
The necklace so carefully painted is being presented
by one female figure to another, but there are no
special attributes by which to decide whom they are
meant to represent. The attitude of the figures, and
the prominence given to the three pendants of the
offering, show that it was intended to be received
and worn as a protective amulet.
Although of course the turpicula res is no longer
to be found in actual use, yet the fist with protruding
thumb is to-day one of the commonest of objects
worn as a charm for the watch-
Fig. 41.
chain. The complete survival of
the ancient amulet is no longer
permitted by the papal censors, but
the hand - part of it is still the
ordinary baby's sucker or plaything
hung upon a child's neck in Rome,
where of old the grosser object held
its place. In fact this hand in silver
is to the Roman child of to-day
what our "coral and silver bells"
was to us in our childhood—the
regulation christening gift. Fig. 41
is from the writer's collection ; actual
size.
It is IS of silver, and
bought in a shop close
Campo dei Fiori, where it was
to
was
the
one of a large bunch of at least twenty ex-
posed for sale, showing that it is an article in
large and regular demand. The same thing may
be seen in almost any silversmith's shop out of
the beat of the ordinary tourist. This special
article seems to be confined to Rome and its neigh-
bourhood, for, as we shall see later, something