Note 7 — VI.—SUPERSTITIONS AS TO VARIOUS SUBJECTS.

Nor do the Chinese stand alone in their silly stories respecting the use of the children’s eyes and blood for photographic purposes. I note that a recent report of the Smyrna mission alludes to a superstition amongst the Greek Christians of the Levant curiously similar. They hold that the Jewish ritual enjoins the shedding of blood at the feast of the Passover, and that the Jews annually inveigle a Christian child into their toils, fatten it up, and then open its arteries to utilize the blood.7 This blood, it is believed, is kneaded into the unleavened bread by the priests, who afterwards distribute this devilish confectionery to their congregations, for a small pecuniary consideration.8