Chapter 19

_the wondrous talisman._ The allusion is to the _hippomanes_ or growth said to be found on the forehead of a new-born foal. Unless the mother was prevented she devoured it.

_Theocritus_, sc. Id. ii.

_Homer_, e.g. the adventures with Circe.

_Orpheus._ See the Orphica (Abel), _Fr._ 172; Argonaut. 955 sqq. Lithica 172 sqq.

_Laevius._ The MSS. give Laelius. But no poet Laelius is known. There was, however, a poet _Laevius_ at the beginning of the first century B.C.

_the lover's knot._ The Latin is _antipathes_, explained by Abt (Apologie des Apuleius, p. 103) as _quod mutuum affectum provocat_.

_the magic wheel_ spun rapidly to draw the beloved to the lover. Cp. Theocr. ii. 30. 'And as this brazen wheel spins, so may Delphis be spun by Aphrodite to my door.'

_nails._ Portions of the beloved were valuable ingredients in charms. Cp. Apul. Metamorph. bk. iii, 16, 17, where hair from the beloved's head is required.

_ribbons_ used as fillets during the ritual. Cp. chap. 30, 'soft garlands.'

_the two-tailed lizard._ Theocr. ii. 57, testifies to the use of the lizard as a love charm. A magic papyrus from Egypt (Griffiths Thompson, col. xiii (23), p. 97) mentions a two-tailed lizard as an ingredient in a charm to cause death.

_the charm that glads_, &c., sc. _hippomanes_; see note on preceding page.