Note 223 — II. SUGGESTIONS AND PERVERSIONS OF THE RITE.

Mandrakes, or “love-apples,” among the ancient Egyptians, as also among the Orientals generally, from the days of Jacob (Gen. 30 : 14-17) until to-day, carried the idea of promoting a loving union; and the Egyptian name for mandrakes—tetmut—combined the root-word tet already referred to as meaning “arm,” or “bracelet,” and mut—with the signification of “attesting,” or “confirming.” Thus the blood and the mandrake juice would be a true assiratum. (See Pierret’s Vocabulaire Hiéroglyphique, p. 723.) “Belief in this plant [the mandrake] is as old as history.” (Napier’s Folk-Lore, p. 90.) See, also, Lang’s Custom and Myth, pp. 143-155.