Nearly everyone is more or less superstitious, nevertheless, ninety-nine persons out of a hundred will walk under a ladder. The nature and origin of this and many other superstitions of everyday life are explained in this book. Contents: what a strange thing is man; cult of the horseshoe; numbers and dates; animals; flowers, fruits and trees; colors; women, children and clothes; marriage; birth and death; fisherfolk, card players, actors and musicians; salt; sneezing; nursery rhymes and other oddments.