Note 1 — I.—INTRODUCTORY.
Reading edition
Luther himself believed in the existence of a stone (the ætita), which superstition gave out was to be found in eagle’s nests, and which possessed the power of detecting thieves! It is not, we imagine, generally known that Luther was grossly superstitious—but he was. It is, we think, in the Colloquia Mensalia, edited by Lauterbach, that Luther is said to have expressed his belief in, among other traditions, the following—that three toads spitted on a stick extracted poison from wounds; that the swan sang sweetly before death; that the electors of Germany could touch for the scrofula, and that the 38th year of man’s life was one of peculiar danger to him.—Englishman. ↑