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

THE SPRIG OF RUE 345
and that the " sprig of rue " is one of the very oldest
of existing amulets. We may safely give it an
Etruscan or early Phoenician origin ; for we must
always remember that
the objects among
which it appears are
labelled by experts, as
found in tombs, " della
prima eta di ferro."
Looking, too, at
the almost oriental un-
changeableness of the
Neapolitan character,
it is no less reasonable
to look upon the name
itself of the amulet as
a tradition of remote
antiquity ; and
it is
easy to see, even with-
out evidence to prove
it,howupon the simple
sprig new symbols
have been grafted, so
that each of its tips
has been made to carry a charm in itself, until at
last we have the multiplied aggregation comprised
in the modern amulet (Fig, 162).
Worn upon the breasts of infants in Naples and
the neighbourhood, it is considered their special
protector against the ever-dreaded /^^/^/z/r^.
Mr. Neville Rolfe^'^'' gives a list of eight different
symbols, but in addition to these we have to point out
several other features which may be recognised in it.
567 Naples in i8SS, p. 1 1 6.
Fig. 162.
From the Collection of Mr. Neville Rolfe.