Doctors Donʼt Believe It—why Should You?

Much ado about the full moon: A meta-analysis of lunar-lunacy research.

“…Lunacy If this were a traditional (i.e., literary) review, we would begin with a brief history of moonlore (for historical surveys, see Abel, 1976;Kelley, 1942;Lieber, 1978b;McDaniel, 1950;Oliven, 1943;Saintyves, 1937;Sarton, 1939;Stahl, 1937;Thomen, 1938;Trapp, 1937). However, it is our guess that most readers know that lunacy is derived from luna, the Latin word for moon, and are aware of the many deviant, abnormal, and peculiar behaviors attributed to the moon: alcoholism, madness, epilepsy, somnambulism ("moon walking"), suicide, homicide, arson, and, of course, lycanthropy.…”

Dermatology and Folk-Lore.

“…According to Brewster (1936) certain people in Southern Indiana are supposed to have the power to *' draw the fire from a burn by breathing upon it and speaking or whispering a charm ". Lastly reference should be made to the ancient but still popular fallacy mentioned by Thomen (1938a) that a good way to heal a burn is to hold the burnt part before the fire to draw out the infiamniation.…”

“…The belief that a poultice of cranberries is very effective in treating erysipelas is widely held to-day according to Thomen (1938c) and is an example of the doctrine of signatures. Another plant remedy used in Ulster is a bog plant of a grassy nature which is also used by some country people as a substitute for soap, so that it cannot be entirely inert (Hickey, 1938), A religious cure for erysipelas mentioned by Canziani (1928) as used at Campotosto is to make the sign of the Cross over the eruption with a gold or silver coin or with a drop of blood from the comb of a hen.…”