FASCINATION (from the Greek fascinatio, to fascinate or bewitch), a sort of witchcraft supposed to operate either by the eye or the tongue.
Ancient writers distinguish two sorts of fascination, one performed by looking, or the efficacy of the eye. Such is that spoken of by Virgil in his third eclogue:
Nefcio quis tenues scales nullo fascinat ignis.
The second by words, and especially malignant praises. Such is that mentioned by the same poet in his seventh eclogue:
Aur, si ultra placitum laudabit, lacere frontem
Cupid, ne vult utat in his litora futuro
Horace touches on both kinds in his first book of epistles:
Non ille obliqua oculis mea commoda quisquam
Lutat, non oia deserta, morsque vincens.