[32.4] Dr. A. Haas, in v. Am Urquell, 253; ii. Bartsch, 43. It seems that according to an old German superstition the water in which a baby is washed for the first time must be poured on trees. In the Canton of Berne it must be poured on a fruitful, or a young, tree; and the person charged with this duty must sing or shout, that the child may learn to sing or shout well. Ploss, i. Kind, 79, citing Rothenbach, Volksthüml. aus d. Canton Berne. A similar practice is found in Austria. Grimm, Teut. Myth., 1807. As a provision against ill-luck and witches among the Magyars, the water is thrown half on a crossway and half on a willow-tree. Von Wlislocki, Volksgl. Mag., 69. The Transylvanian Saxons, on the other hand, will not throw it where it may be trodden on, lest the child die, or at least lose its sleep. The proper place is beneath a tree, that the babe may strengthen. Ibid., Volksgl. Siebenb. Sachs., 154.
[33.1] ii. Brand, 453, citing Grose.
[33.2] J. M. Currier, in vi. Journ. Am. F.L., 69.
[34.1] Ploss, i. Kind, 79, citing Williams and Calvert; Featherman, Papuo-Mel., 204.
[34.2] Stoll, 68; Dorman, 293.
[34.3] ii. Bancroft, 276. Was the future battlefield ascertained by divination? Or how could it be known? Or is there some misunderstanding on the part of the reporter? Compare the custom at Tashkend, whereby, at the birth of a boy, the father buries a mutton-bone, or, in the case of a girl, a rag-doll, under the floor of the room where the birth has taken place. Schuyler, i. Turkistan, 140.
[35.1] ii. L’Anthropologie, 369, citing Jacobs and Meyer, Les Badoujs.
[35.2] Rev. J. Macdonald, in xx. Journ. Anthr. Inst., 132; Frazer, ii. Golden Bough, 329, citing several authorities. See also Andree, ii. Ethnog. Par., 21.
[35.3] Sibree, 278.
[36.1] Quoted by Singer, ii. Zeits. des Vereins, 300.