The exuded froth of a pickled snail dropped into the ear is a cure for earache.
The same insect sewn up in a bag and worn round the neck for nine days is an antidote for ague. After the nine days the bag is opened, and the snail thrown into the fire, when it is said to shake like the ague (no doubt!) and after this the patient is never again troubled with the complaint.
The poor snail is again tortured to cure warts. One is to be pierced as many times as the warts in number, and then stuck on a blackthorn in a hedgerow; as the creature dies, the warts wane and disappear.
Gloucester Journal, 15th May 1880.
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