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

CHAP. VI HORNED HELMETS 201
elsewhere they are not now restricted to female
wear, any more than in the time of David. Catlin ^^^
gives portraits of many North American Indians
who wear the skins of bisons on their heads with
the horns attached. We reproduce one (Fig. ']']),
that oi MaJi-to-wo-pa, as it contains another important
amulet, besides the very conspicuous horns upon his
head. Also it should be noted that on his spear are
two horns, with a feather close by in a conspicuous
place, to draw attention to them, like the pheasant's
tail on the Neapolitan harness. Not only, however,
were these worn on the head of the savage, but on
the helmet of the warrior, as a crest which his enemy
might not fail to see, in case the shield, bearing
some other amulet, should not attract the first fatal
glance. In the Naples
Museum and in that of
the Louvre are several
ancient Greek bronze
helmets (Figs. 78, 79).
Each one bears a pair of
branching horns of flat
plate much of the same
Fig. 78.
Fig. 79.
From Naples Museum.
shape as the conventional horns of I sis. I n the Louvre
Is a full-sized Greek helmet of gold,^^** having the high
branching horns.^^^ The helmet of the ancient Belgian
22^ Catlin, North American Indians. 2 vols. 1844.
330 A drawing of this helmet is given in Daremberg et Saglio, p. 1534.
231 The ancient Etruscans wore a helmet with horns precisely like one of those
here shown (Fig. 78). Like it there was a small square fork upon the apex, apparently
for fixing some crest or plume to add to the attractiveness of the whole.
An Etruscan helmet of this shape is given by Gen. Forlong, Rivers of Life,
vol. ii. p. 254, PI. xii. In the Btillettino Archeologico Nafoletano (An. IL Tav.
XL) is a man on horseback, apparently an ancient Roman or Greek soldier.
From the back of his helmet rise two large horns, forming a complete crescent,
while at the same time preserving their distinct horn shape ; even the rings at
the root of a cow's horn are well indicated. In the British Museum is an Anglo-
Saxon helmet with two large horns. There is also an ancient Mexican helmet