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OMNIANA.

from the caliphate as I throw away my slippers." They who were near him took off their slippers in all haste, threw them away, and repeated this formula also. The ceremony went no farther, or perhaps the whim of some violent symbolist might have given rise to a set of Mahommedan Adamites.


30. Stilling the Sea with Oil.

Dr. Franklin's idea of pouring oil upon the sea to still the waves, has often been put in practice. There is scarcely a commoner miracle in British hagiology. It is mentioned also by Erasmus, among other superstitions practised during a tempest. An easy method of effecting the same purpose is mentioned by Martin in his account of the Western Islands.

"The steward of Kilda, who lives in Pabbay, is accustomed in time of a storm to tie a bundle of puddings, made of the fat of sea-fowl, to the end of his cable,