They esteemed it a preservative against witchcraft, and a sovereign remedy against malignant diseases, both in the human species and in cattle; and by it the strongest poisons were supposed to have their nature changed.

Is not homespun cloth as great a preservative against cold, as a coat of Tartar lamb's-wool, died in grain, or a gown of giant's beards?

There is always a point at which caution, however solicitous, must limit its preservatives, because one terrour often counteracts another.

In Patagonia "both sexes smear their faces, and occasionally their bodies with paint, the Indians alleging as the reasons for using this cosmetic that it is a protection against the effects of the wind; and I found from personal experience that it proved a complete preservative from excoriation or chapped skin.

The Druids were also extremely superstitious in relation to the herb selago, which they reckoned a preservative against sore eyes, and almost all misfortunes.