FOLK LORE.
Cures for the Hooping Cough (Rubus fruticosus).—The following is said to prevail in the counties of Warwick, Worcester, and Stafford, as a remedy for this harrowing disorder in children: that if a child is put to walk beneath a common bramble (Rubus fruticosus), having rooted in the ground at both extremities (which may be very commonly met with where they grow luxuriantly), a certain number of times, a perfect cure would be the result.
Gryphea incurva.—In the course of conversation with an old man in the county of Warwick, relative to ancient customs, he related to me as a fact within his own knowledge, that the pretty round stone shell, as he termed it (picking one up at the same time), a specimen of the Gryphea incurva, or Devil's Thumb, as it is frequently called, which is found in considerable quantities in the gravel beds of that county, when prepared in a certain manner—calcined, I believe—is a certain specific for this complaint in its most obstinate form. Indeed, he related to me some very extraordinary cures which he had himself witnessed.
Donkey.—A certain number of hairs taken from the black cross on the shoulders of a donkey, and put into a small bag made of black silk, and worn round a child's neck afflicted with the complaint, is a never-failing remedy.
T. B. Whitborne.