CHAP. 103.—PARTS OF THE HUMAN BODY TO WHICH CERTAIN
RELIGIOUS IDEAS ARE ATTACHED.
In accordance with the usages of various nations, certain
religious ideas have been attached to the knees. It is the
knees that suppliants clasp, and it is to these that they extend
their hands; it is the knees that they worship like so many
altars, as it were; perhaps, because in them is centred the
vital strength. For in the joint of either knee, the right
as well as the left, there is on the fore-side of each a certain
empty space, which bears a strong resemblance to a mouth, and
through which, like the throat, if it is once pierced, the vital
powers escape. [Note] There are also certain religious ideas attached to other parts of the body, as is testified in raising the
back of the right hand to the lips, and extending it as a token
of good faith. It was the custom of the ancient Greeks, when
in the act of supplication, to touch the chin. The seat of the
memory lies in the lower part of the ear, which we touch
when we summon a witness to depose upon memory to an
arrest. [Note] The seat, too, of Nemesis [Note] lies behind the right ear, a
goddess which has never yet found a Latin name, no, not in the
Capitol even. It is to this part that we apply the finger next
the little finger, after touching the mouth with it, when we
silently ask pardon of the gods for having let slip an indiscreet
word.