Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 October 1898 — ZOLA’S SUPERSTITIONS. [ARTICLE]

ZOLA’S SUPERSTITIONS.

Unconquerable Dread of Feventeen— Leaves Home Left Foot First. The eminent writer, M. Emile Zola, while he was going down Rue de la Chaussee d’Antiu, at Paris, was knocked down by a hack, which passed over his legs, without, fortunately, doing any other damage than bruising him, M. Zola has a superstitious horror of the number 17. This number Is to him unlucky. After he arose, he looked at the number of the hack, added up the figures in a flash, and found the total to be 17. The great writer bad, for a long time, held the belief that the number 17 had a malign influence upon him, and that aggravated the case. Dr. Tolouse has recently devoted a volume to a study of M. Zola, in which the character, temperament and the very sources of the illustrious writer’s talents are analyzed with all the resources of psychology and physiology. The author says: “Thus, certain figures have a bad Influence upon M. Zola. If the number of the hack, when added up, forms this figure, he will not engage the vehicle, or, if he is obliged to do so, will fear that some misfortune may happen to him. For example, that he may not succeed in the business that he has started out to do. Such superstitious idea may supervene apropos of any of his arithmomaniacal impulses. “For a long time the multiples of 3 appeared favorable to him; but now it is the multiples of 7 that reassure him. Thus, in the night, it often happens that he will open his eyes seven times in order to prove to himself that he is not going to die. On the contrary, the number 17, which recalls to him a sorrowful date, seems to him to be unlucky, and chance has ordained that he should recognize a coincidence of certain unfortunate occurrences with that date. Similar superstitious ideas exhibit themselves outside of all aritbmomania. Thus, he will perform certain acts with the idea that, if he does not do so, some annoyance will happen to him. So he will touch the gas burners that be meets with in the streets, surmount an obstacle with the right foot, walk upon the pavement in a certain way, ete. For a long time he feared that he would not succeed in the proceeding that he was going to undertake unless he started out of the house with his left foot foremost.”—Vie Scientifique.