resulting from sin; bloated, in consequence of insufficient food; and
thin, due to sorcery.

_Shabbath_, fol. 33, col. 1.

These three grow stronger as they grow older:--The fish, the serpent,
and the pig.

Ibid., fol. 77, col. 2.

It were better to cut the hands off than to touch the eye, or the nose,
or the mouth, or the ear, etc., with them without having first washed
them. Unwashed hands may cause blindness, deafness, foulness of breath,
or a polypus. It is taught that Rabbi Nathan has said, "The evil spirit
Bath Chorin, which rests upon the hands at night, is very strict; he
will not depart till water is poured upon the hands three times over."

Ibid. fol. 109, col. 1.

The great importance of this ceremonial washing of the hands
will appear from the following anecdote, which we quote
_verbatim_ from another part of the Talmud:--"It happened once,
as the Rabbis teach, that Rabbi Akiva was immured in a prison,
and Yehoshua Hagarsi was his attendant. One day the gaoler said
to the latter as he entered, 'What a lot of water thou hast
brought to-day! Dost thou need it to sap the walls of the
prison?' So saying, he seized the vessel and poured out half of
the water. When Yehoshua brought in what was left of the water
to Rabbi Akiva, the latter, who was weary of waiting, for he was
faint and thirsty, reproachfully said to him, 'Yehoshua, dost