If any person sneezed between midnight and the following noontide it was fortunate, but from noontide till midnight it was unfortunate.
If a man sneezed at the table while they were taking away, or if another happened to sneeze upon his left hand, it was unlucky; if on the right hand, fortunate.
If, in the undertaking any business, two or four sneezes happened, it was a lucky omen, and gave encouragement to proceed; if more than four, the omen was neither good nor bad; if one or three, it was unlucky, and dehorted them from proceeding in what they had designed. If two men were deliberating about any business, and both of them chanced to sneeze together, it was a prosperous omen.—Archæol. Græc. (5th ed.), pp. 339, 340.
Francis John Scott.
Tewkesbury.
The custom your correspondent Medicus alludes to, of wishing a person "good health," after sneezing, is also very common in Russia. The phrases the Russians use on these occasions are—"To your good health!" or "How do you do?"
J. S. A.
Old Broad Street.