In Sardinia, farm labourers often own cattle which are
either turned out with their master's herds (whose partners
they thus, in a manner, become), or are confided to some
other shepherd, who receives half the profits in return for
looking after them.
Ispana trista or santa, from which, according to tradition,
the crown of thorns was made. The people use the
leaves of this tree for medicinal purposes.
The custom of burying a person bitten by a tarantula in a
dunghill, and putting him in an oven, is not so unreasonable
as it at first appears, the effect of the poison being neutralised
if the sufferer can be made to perspire freely; while the
sickening odours of the dunghill induce nausea, also supposed
to be very beneficial. Now, however, the people completely
ignoring these practical results, the ceremony has come to be
an act of pure superstition. The account given above describes
such scenes as they have actually been known to
occur.