The Benefit of a Fearless Mother

I have from my childhood, in conformity with the precepts of a mother void of all imaginary fear, been in the constant habit of taking toads in my hand, and applying them to my nose and face as it may happen. My motive for doing this very frequently is to inculcate the opinion I have held, since I was told by my mother, that the toad is actually a harmless animal; and to whose manner of life man is certainly under some obligation as its food is chiefly those insects which devour his crops and annoy him in various ways.

Notes:

Joseph Banks' mother would put toads in his hand and apply them to his face to dismiss the superstition that they cause warts and argue that they are actually quite useful in keeping down pests.

Folksonomies: parenting superstition empiricism

Taxonomies:
/business and industrial/agriculture and forestry/crops and seed (0.309575)
/food and drink (0.230102)
/health and fitness/disorders/mental disorder/panic and anxiety (0.189399)

Keywords:
Fearless Mother Joseph (0.900220 (positive:0.729657)), mother void (0.639422 (negative:-0.704948)), imaginary fear (0.564115 (negative:-0.704948)), constant habit (0.563280 (negative:-0.644528)), harmless animal (0.550560 (negative:-0.562097)), life man (0.520304 (negative:-0.428473)), various ways (0.516616 (negative:-0.428473)), toads (0.456405 (negative:-0.258589)), superstition (0.378751 (positive:0.385940)), warts (0.374366 (positive:0.385940)), hand (0.373783 (negative:-0.258589)), conformity (0.370331 (negative:-0.704948)), precepts (0.369958 (negative:-0.704948)), obligation (0.368973 (negative:-0.428473)), motive (0.367715 (neutral:0.000000)), face (0.366392 (positive:0.385940)), toad (0.361852 (negative:-0.562097)), pests (0.361067 (positive:0.385940)), nose (0.357638 (negative:-0.522568)), manner (0.353972 (negative:-0.428473)), Banks (0.353040 (positive:0.729657)), Benefit (0.352306 (positive:0.729657)), childhood (0.350660 (negative:-0.486243)), insects (0.349457 (negative:-0.428473)), crops (0.349032 (negative:-0.428473))

Entities:
Mother Joseph Banks:Person (0.894894 (positive:0.729657))

Concepts:
Amphibian (0.902661): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Toad (0.875760): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Agriculture (0.851780): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Life (0.846386): dbpedia | freebase

 Joseph Banks in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1766
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Lysaght , Averil M. (1971), Joseph Banks in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1766, Univ of California Press, Retrieved on 2011-12-15
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: science