Note 19 — Chapter I · THE EVIL EYE AND THE SCARING OF GHOSTS.

Confectioners, when one of their vessels of milk is exposed to view, put a little charcoal in it, as careful Scotch mothers do in the water in which they wash their babies.19 The idea is probably connected with the use of fire as a charm. In Scotland it used to be the practice to throw a live coal into the beer vat to avert the influence of the fairies, and a cow’s milk was secured against them by a burning coal being passed across her back and under her belly immediately after calving.20 In India, if a cow gives a large quantity of milk, the owner tries to hide it, and if it chances to get sour, he attributes the loss to fascination, or the machinations of some enemy, witch, or demon. A mother while dressing her baby makes a black mark on its cheek, and before a man eats betel he pinches off the corner of the leaf as a safeguard. When food is taken to the labourer in the field, a piece of charcoal or copper coin is placed in the basket as a preservative; and when horses while feeding throw a little grain on the ground, it is not replaced, because the horse is believed to do this to avoid fascination. Grooms, with the same object, throw a dirty duster over the withers of a horse while it is feeding, and they are the more particular to do this when it is new moon or moonlight, when spirits are abroad. In the same way, when a man purchases food in the open market, he throws a little into the fire, and when a man is having a specially good dinner, he should select an auspicious moment and do the same. The same idea accounts for various customs of grace-giving at meals. Thus, when the Brâhmans at Pûna begin dinner they repeat the name of Govinda; the Shenavis say, Har! Har! Mahâdeva, and when half finished sing verses; the Mhârs never eat without saying Krishnarpana! or “It is dedicated to Krishna”;21 the Muhammadan, when he begins to eat, says, Bismillah!—“In the name of God!” and when he finishes he says, Al-hamdulillah!—“Praise be to God!” Orthodox Hindus pretend that this offering of food at a meal is a sacrifice to Annadeva, the god of food; but here many varied beliefs, such as fear of fascination, earth and fire worship, appear to combine to establish these and similar practices.