The Saviour's foreskins
 

THE FORESKINS, STILL extant, of the Saviour, are reckoned to be twelve in number. One was in the possession of the Monks of Loulombs; another at the Abbey of Charroux; a third at Hildesheim, in Germany; a fourth at Rome, in the Church of St jean-de-Latran; a fiffh at Antwerp; a sixth at Puy-en-Velay, in the Church of Notre Dame, etc.

From Essay I, Ancient Phallic Worship.

Letter of Sir W. Hamilton prefixed to Payne Knight's

Worship of Priapus
 

S IR W. HAMILTON'S account of the worship paid to St Cosmo and St Damianus is very curious. On the 27th September, at Isernia, one of the most ancient cities of the kingdom of Naples, situated in the province called the Contado di Mouse, and adjoining the Aruzzo, an annual fair is held which lasts three days. On one of the days of the fair the relics of Sts Cosmo and Damianus are exposed. In the city and at the fair, ex-votos of wax representing the male parts of generation, of various dimensions, sometimes even the length of a palm, are publicly exposed for sale. There are also waxen vows that represent other parts of the body mixed with them, but of these there are few in comparison of the number of Priapi.

The distributors of these vows carry a basket full of them in one hand, and hold a plate in the other to receive the money, crying out 'Saints Cosmo and Damianus!' If you ask the price of one, the answer is, 'Piu' ci mefli, piu' ci meriti!' - the more you give, the more the merit. The vows are chiefly presented by the female sex, and they are seldom such as represent legs, arms, etc., but most commonly the male parts of generation. The person who was at the fete, in the year 1780, and who gave me this account (the authenticity of which has since been confirmed to me by the Governor of Isernia) told me also that he heard a woman say, at the time she presented a vow, 'Santo Cosmo, benedetto, cosi lo vogho.' - Blessed St Cosmo, let it be like this! The vow is never presented without being accompanied by a piece of money, and is always kissed by the devotee at the moment of presentation.

Quoted in Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs